The Irony of It All
by Well-Well
Summary: Jimmy is not his usual self, and Cindy is concerned. But when things seem to be going alright, everything goes wrong. Time is running out, but are they even fighting for the right thing? Nothing is as it should be, but they like it that way. JC.
1. Just a Bad Day

………

Chapter 1: Just a Bad Day

Cindy stretched in her warm bed. A sun, barely over the horizon, peeked in through half-closed curtains, and Cindy found herself smiling. Today was special, she knew. Today was different. _Today, I turn fifteen._

She pulled aside the covers and began to go through her morning routine. After she was dressed, clean, and presentable, she went downstairs to the kitchen to get her breakfast. Her dad, in a robe and pajama bottoms, greeted her with a smile and pointed to some toast.

"Thanks, dad," Cindy said, grabbing the plate of toast and sitting down at the table with him.

"Happy birthday, birthday girl," Mr. Vortex said, displaying his award winning 'proud-dad' grin.

Cindy laughed. "Thanks, dad, again." The toast was good, and Cindy finished it with relish. Her dad yawned.

"They just make these darn schools open earlier and earlier, don't they?" He leaned back in his chair, in deep thought. "Seems like just yesterday you were a little girl in elementary school." Her dad sighed. Cindy patted her dad on the back as she walked by to put her empty plate in the sink. Her dad watched her go. "Fifteen, huh." He shook his head. "Well, your mom and I have a surprise for you tonight, so don't be late, honey."

Cindy watched her dad for a hint, but he gave none. "Aww, you can't do that to me dad. A little hint?" Her dad laughed and shook his head.

"No, no hint. Now, go to school. Your bus will be here any minute." Cindy checked a clock on the wall. It was way too early, but Cindy knew that her dad would eventually give in and give her a hint. Hence, he was sending her out to wait for the bus early.

She smiled and played along. "Alright, dad. I'll see you when you get home from work tonight." She kissed her dad on the cheek. He waved after her and she collected her things and stepped out of her house.

The morning air was crisp and cool, but held the promise of a warm day. Cindy was smiling at nothing as she walked to the corner where her street's high school bus picked up her neighbors and herself. No one was there––well, Jimmy was there, but he was no one. Cindy giggled at her internal insult, but her giggle faded when she saw a blank look on the genius's face.

"What's got _you_ down, Neutron?" she asked, not trying to display the concern she actually felt. She was surprised and somewhat hurt to be met with a glare. And when Jimmy said nothing more, she was shocked.

Cindy attempted to change the subject. "So… Neutron, do you know what today is?"

This time, Jimmy responded, though not in a likable way at all. "Oh… yeah, happy birthday."

Cindy looked back and forth. Sheen, Libby, and Carl had yet to emerge from their houses. She took a breath. "What's wrong?" Jimmy said nothing. His face was blank again. "Jimmy?" She had used his first name. That _always_ got his attention. But this time, it didn't. Cindy frowned. Jimmy ran a hand through his already messy hair, then pulled something out of his pocket.

"I didn't… have time to get you another present, Cindy. I was planning to. I'm sorry, but this is all I could come up with." He pulled out a small necklace from his pocket. Cindy gasped. Its gold glinted in the rising sun. At its base was a crystal, filled with some sort of liquid.

Cindy marveled at the beauty of the necklace. The crystal was green, but the liquid within was blue. She shook herself from her stance, looked up at Jimmy, and shook her head. "I'm sorry… but that's… that's… that must have cost so much money! Why would you spend so much on a birthday gift?"

His face was blank again. "I didn't spend any money. I made it in my lab. Got the gold from some melted jewelry, and the crystal is…" He paused. "The liquid inside the crystal is radon. It isn't normally a liquid, but that's how it reacts with the crystal."

Cindy shook her head again. "But isn't radon poisonous? And radioactive?"

Jimmy nodded. Cindy waited for an explanation, and it came. "The crystal contains the radiation within itself. There's no way the radiation could get out, unless the crystal breaks, which is almost impossible. If it does break, though, the liquid will turn to a gas. Just stand away from it––but the amount should be harmless."

Cindy nodded. Somehow, the necklace was in her hand. She looked up to Jimmy, but he had his back turned. The crystal glowed in the morning sun. "Thanks, Jimmy." She undid the clasp and hooked the necklace around her neck. Jimmy was looking at her again, a blank face.

"Hey, what's up guys?" Libby had arrived. She turned to Cindy. "Happy birthday, girl."

"Thanks, Libbs."

Libby gasped. "Is that necklace for real?"

Cindy nodded. "Jimmy gave it to me. For my birthday." Libby opened her mouth to comment on the whole 'calling him Jimmy instead of Neutron,' but then, she decided against it.

"Hey Jimmy, Libby." Carl had arrived, Sheen in tow. "Happy birthday, Cindy!"

"Yeah, Cindy, happy birthday!" Sheen said, bowing in his Ultra Lord way.

"Thanks, guys." Cindy was watching Jimmy again. He was blank. Again. He had turned away from the group. Sheen had stepped up to Libby, and they held hands. Carl, however, had moved over to Jimmy. The round boy had stretched up, and was now only slightly overweight. By some defiance of nature, Carl was on the football team, so his weight served him well.

Sheen had stretched up as well, taller than Jimmy and Carl, but was lanky. Even then, Cindy had to admit, he was cute, cute enough for Libby to go out with him.

Jimmy had grown tall, taller than Cindy, Libby, and Carl. His hair was no longer in his childhood dollop; it was shorter, spiked, but still long enough to resemble his previous 'do. His short hair was in deep contrast to his blue, deep blue eyes. He had no idea that practically every girl in school was fawning over him, even the seniors. Cindy had resisted the urge, determined to keep her dignity. But she has stopped denying it. She liked Jimmy, and as long as he didn't know, she was okay with it.

Carl whispered something worriedly in Jimmy's ear. Jimmy shook his head, and Carl stood back, saddened. The bus pulled around the corner then, stopping by the curb. First Carl, then Sheen and Libby, and then Cindy stepped on. Jimmy didn't follow, and Cindy paused on the step.

"You coming, Neutron?" Jimmy said nothing. Cindy waved her hand in front of her. "Come on, or the bus'll leave without you." Something different registered on the boy genius's face. "Come _on!_" Cindy prodded, almost desperately. She couldn't believe that she was worried enough to beg him to come on the bus. "Please? As the second birthday gift you couldn't get me?" Jimmy blanched, and Cindy mentally slapped herself for such a selfish request. Finally, he stepped forward and followed her into the bus

He sat by himself, looking out the window, and Cindy couldn't see his face. She turned to Libby, who sat next to her. "Hey, do you know what's up with Neutron? He's acting kind of strange."

"Chill, Cindy," Libby said, shrugging. "He's probably just having a bad day."

"Yeah," Cindy agreed. "Just… a bad day."

……

The periods were blurred with random thoughts of Jimmy. Cindy had never seen him so down. She could tell he didn't want to be there, and it made her feel horrible that he probably came only because she had asked for it.

She had three periods with him, third, fifth, and eighth. She couldn't see much of him during third, but they had fifth, lunch, together. He sat with some friends, but they said nothing to him. They said nothing to each other. A mood had spread across the table, morbid and dead. The spaces on either side of Jimmy were empty.

Her curiosity was too aroused. She had to talk to him, she realized, and decided to do so when he left for his locker before the end of fifth period. She ate her lunch slowly, hoping to make the period go by faster, but it was long nonetheless. Finally, Jimmy stood and slung his backpack over his shoulder in the cool way that he did it. Cindy told her friends she had an appointment with a teacher, stood, and followed him out of the lunchroom.

He walked fast, and she almost lost track of him in the many hallways of Retroville High. But finally, she turned down a hallway, and he had stopped, fiddling with his locker. Cindy was about to approach him, but stopped when she saw another girl drop by.

"Hey, Jim." He didn't answer. "Oh, come on, Jim, talk to me." The girl had an obnoxious voice, Cindy thought. She had black hair, but it was dyed. She looked familiar. _Is she Jimmy's girlfriend?_ She realized that Jimmy would never go out with someone who he couldn't have a real conversation with. "Please? I know you're sad about the whole thing, but––" she swung her arm in a preppy way, "yah can't let life get you down."

She slung her arms around his neck from behind him, so that when he turned away from his locker, he was face to face with her. Jimmy looked like he was in no mood for her. The girl moved in for a kiss, and Cindy felt her heart stop. But Jimmy pushed the girl away.

"Stop it, Betty." Betty? Betty… Quinlin? Cindy gawked. The one girl Jimmy had been obsessed with since he was in fifth grade, and he was pushing her away. Well, she _did_ looked like a… well. "Just leave me alone." Betty didn't look the least bit phased.

"Please, Jimmy?' She gave him hurt eyes. Cindy gasped—that look, it was always fake. Cindy had used it with Nick many times before, among other boys, and they always fell for it. She saw Jimmy's reserve falter, and decided it was time to step in. But before she had even moved an inch, Jimmy shook his head.

"Betty, I don't like you. I've told you that twenty-three times before." Cindy rolled her eyes––some things never changed.

Now Betty looked frustrated. "Jeez, you're such a loser, Jimmy. Do you know how many guys would want me to be their girlfriend? And here I am, offering me, _me_, to you, and you refuse? Fine, I'll just tell all the other guys crooning over me that you broke my heart, and we'll see if you can make it another––"

Jimmy slammed his locker closed, cutting off Betty mid-sentence. "I don't _care_. Get out of my sight." He turned to look at Betty with a cold, hard glare. "I don't need a reputation, not anymore, and I sure as Heisenberg's principle don't need _you_."

Betty _humphed_ and turned on heel, marching down the hallway and out of sight. Cindy winced. She had never seen Jimmy so turned over before. But her curiosity drove her forward. She stepped quietly down the hallway, stopping a couple lockers from him.

He had lowed his head, resting an arm against a locker while massaging his temples. Suddenly, his head snapped up, somehow knowing someone was there. He looked surprised to see Cindy. She watched suspiciously as he drew himself back to his full height and stuffed some things into his backpack. The hallway was empty.

He finished, closing his locker, but he didn't go anywhere. His back was turned to Cindy again. The blonde walked up to him. "Jimmy?" No reply. She took it as a signal to go on. "I'm sorry for bothering you like this." She averted her gaze, rubbing her arm in unexpected nervousness. "I hope you aren't angry."

Jimmy wheeled around suddenly, and Cindy stepped back in shock. "No! I'm not angry! Why should I be?! Why should… I be…" he trailed off, eyes going from wide to normal. His face was blank again. "Sorry," he mumbled, turning away slightly.

Cindy stepped toward him. "I'm sorry for Betty." Jimmy looked up at her at the mention of this.

"You were watching?"

Cindy nodded, ashamed. "I had followed… come to you to see if I could help with whatever it was that's bothering you… and I saw her… I'm sorry."

Jimmy couldn't tell if she was sorry for eavesdropping or Betty, or both. "Don't be," he replied softly. "She changed ever since going out with Nick that one year. Now she has to be cool instead of Betty… but that doesn't matter, I wouldn't like her anyway." There was an awkward pause.

Cindy absently fingered the beautiful necklace that she had gotten countless comments for. "Will you tell me what's wrong?" she asked, not masking her concern. Jimmy noticed this and met her gaze. It was then that Cindy saw the dark bags beneath his eyes, the dullness of the blue within them, the hollows in his cheeks. She stepped forward, overcome with sadness for him. What was driving him to be so out of shape?

She inspected him for anything else. Jimmy watched her all the while, not saying anything. Finally, Cindy decided she could find nothing more the matter. "Why did you follow me?" Jimmy asked.

Cindy blinked. "I told you, I wanted to help you." Jimmy gave her a hard to read look.

"Just because I got you a birthday gift that you like." He saw the hurt in her eyes and immediately regretted speaking the assumption. "I'm sorry, I know that's not the reason… but why do you want to know what's wrong?"

"Because, Dorktron," she said, smirking, "I care about my friends." Jimmy looked neither heartened nor dismayed at her statement.

"I see," was all he said. "I have to get to class."

"Won't you tell me?" she pleaded.

Jimmy sighed. "Ask Carl or something. I'm sick of it anyway. He's the only one who really knows, so good luck getting it out of him." The bell rang then, and Jimmy began walking away.

"Jimmy!" Cindy called out after him. He turned, an eyebrow raised. She wasn't sure why she had called out to him. "Be… careful, okay? Don't do anything stupid?" He nodded, turned, and disappeared in the crowd of students flooding the halls.

Cindy stood there for a second. Carl was in her next class, and she found some excitement hidden in the matter of find out Jimmy's secret. She smiled, too, for Betty got what she deserved, and Cindy had heard what she'd wanted to hear. Jimmy didn't like Betty. Good birthday, bad birthday?

She didn't know, not yet.

………

_Continued in the next chapter: Good Birthday Gone Bad_


	2. Good Birthday Gone Bad

_Disclaimer: I don't own BMW or Honda._

retroville9: Thanks. And you'll find out eventually!

okmeamithinknow: Well, here it is! And, again, you'll find out.

jimlover54: Here's your update. Enjoy.

lauren B: Ah, but does he spill? Heh, find out.

xJCManiak12x: Glad you love it. Here's the next post.

starrlightstarbrite: Is this soon enough? Hope so.

acosta perez jose ramiro: I'm glad you've enjoyed the dialogues. I hope you continue to like the story.

Thanks for the support, guys. Makes it much more fun writing these stories. Well, here's chappie two.

………

Chapter 2: Good Birthday Gone Bad

Cindy felt like punching Carl in the face. Hard. But she contained her frustration. "_Please_, Carl, I'm begging you."

The football jock shook his head. "Nuh-uh, no way, Cindy. I was sworn to secrecy."

"Whyyyy?" Cindy wined. "Please tell me? Pretty please?"

"_Miss Vortex._" Cindy's head snapped up at the mention of her name.

"Yes, Mr. Corbet?"

"How are you today?"

Cindy blinked. "Uh, fine, thank you."

"That's good. Are you enjoying your conversation with Mr. Wheezer?"

Cindy 'oooohed' in realization. "Sorry for talking during class, Mr. Corbet." The teacher rubbed his temples and adjusted his glasses while the class giggled. Cindy sighed.

Despite repeated glares at Carl over the course of the class, she got nothing out of him. The bell rang, and before she could lift a finger, Carl shuffled out of the classroom. Cindy sighed, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

She moved to the door, but stopped when the teacher called her name. "Just one moment, Cindy." She gulped, and hung back while the rest of the class left. "Now, you being Cindy Vortex, I know it is very unlike you to talk during class. Is there anything you wish to talk about?"

Cindy shrugged. Mr. Corbet was her favorite teacher, considering she knew him as a family friend. He was almost part of her family. Ned Corbet shook his head. "Are you sure? You know teachers are here to help."

Cindy smiled. "A friend is acting a little weird, and Carl knows why, but he won't tell me." Ned nodded, scratching his chin.

"Well, if there's anything I can do, just let me know."

"Will do, Mr. Corbet."

She left the classroom––and ran straight into Nick Dean. He smiled his white grin at her, and she almost melted. Almost. "Hey, Cindy. What's going down?"

Cindy shrugged. She didn't much like Nick anymore, but he was still charming, and unnervingly so. "Nothing really."

"Got any plans for tonight?" Cindy's heart jumped. He pulled a mirror out of his pocket, checked his hair, and replaced the mirror.

"Well, no, not really…" She had left out the fact that it was her birthday.

"That's cool. Hey, there's a party at Jill's tonight. Why don't you come?" He grinned. "It'd be cool."

Cindy resisted the urge to stick out he tongue. Party meant beer, which meant drunk idiots, which meant trouble. Party meant people making out all over, loud music, and vomiting. "I'll have to skip out this time, Nick," she replied almost sarcastically. "Besides, today's my birthday, and I have a few things going on that I just remembered."

Nick shrugged. "Aight, that's cool. There'll always be more parties."

Cindy nodded. "Yeah." There was a pause. He hadn't even wished her a happy birthday. "I have a class, I'll talk to you later or something." She stepped past Nick and moved down the hallway quickly. All the while, she felt the boy's eyes on her back.

…

Her next class went by somewhat quickly, but Cindy hardly paid attention in it. It wasn't like she really needed to. She knew plenty of the information she needed to know, enough to get straight 'A's or better. After all, it was only Social Studies. Even so, she normally liked to pay attention.

_One day won't hurt,_ she told herself as she walked into eighth period. Jimmy was already there, writing something in a notebook. Cindy approached behind him slowly, so as not to disturb him, and peeked over his shoulder. He was working at some sort of formula. But he kept on erasing, muttering to himself.

"No… no, that can't… maybe if… no… no… no!" Finally, he threw his pencil at his notebook. It bounced away, rolling across the floor. He proceeded to cradle his head in his hands. Cindy stepped over to his pencil, picking it up and offering it to him. He looked up then, his eyes wild and filled with a thousand different things. But he blinked, and his face was blank, again. He was a master at controlling his emotions. He didn't look away from her, but he didn't take his pencil. Cindy reached down to his side, grabbed his wrist, and placed the pencil in his hand.

"If scientists always throw down their pencils in frustration, then maybe they should try using a pen." Jimmy blinked. He could tell there was some hidden meaning behind her words, but said nothing.

Finally, he spoke. "I guess Carl told you?"

Cindy looked surprised. "No, actually. He didn't." She looked away. Jimmy sighed.

"I––" The bell rang.

"Alright, guys, please sit down." The teacher had finally gotten there. Jimmy gave Cindy an apologetic look as she moved back to her seat.

Math class eventually passed, and Cindy was following the flock of students to her locker. Jimmy had left early, with some excuse, and Cindy knew he was just avoiding her. He didn't want to answer her question. But putting that aside, she had her dad and mom's surprise to look forward to.

The bus ride home was short-lived, for Jimmy wasn't on. Cindy stepped off the bus with Libby and Sheen––Carl had football practice––and made her way home, waving a goodbye to the happy couple.

Her mom was asleep on the couch, and Cindy crept upstairs to her room, where she dropped her backpack, sat down, and thought.

_He was writing a formula… doesn't need a reputation… what the heck does all this mean?_ She found herself playing the necklace around her neck, and took it off to examine it.

The craftsmanship was amazing; the gold had been fashioned into a thin, but durable chain. The crystal hanging at the end still sparkled, despite the fact that there was no real sunlight coming into her room. Then she realized that the crystal wasn't just sparkling, it was _shining_. It gave off light.

Cindy moved over to her window, closing the curtains. Even in the dark, the crystal glowed. She let her eyes adjust for a moment, and gasped. The chain was shimmering, or rather, there were words engraved in the chain that shimmered. She squinted at the chain, but could not read the text.

She spent another half hour marveling at the necklace, looking for some secret. But after all her work, she could find nothing. Shaking her head, she reopened her blinds and pulled out her books to get started on her homework. She had to finish it before her dad got home, in a few hours.

…

Cindy checked her clock––twenty minutes before her dad got home. She stood, resolve filling her being, and walked down the stairs. Her mom was in the kitchen.

"Going somewhere, Cindy? Your father will be home soon." Cindy smiled at her mom. She was cooking a big meal tonight, and it smelled delicious.

"Just next-door. I should be back before dad gets home." Her mother nodded.

"You know, I've put a lot of work into this meal." Cindy rolled her eyes, but smiled.

"I know mom. Thank you, you make the best meals."

Her mother laughed in the way she always did. "How nice of you to notice." Cindy laughed to herself as she left her house. Despite her mom's competitive attitude, she had some modesty in her.

She paused on the street, though. Should she really press matters this far? Indecision reigned.

For Jimmy, she decided, and stepped onto the street. She was hardly aware of the blaring horn before she saw the car coming, swerving left and right randomly. She opened her mouth to scream. But the car went by, screeching around the corner and disappearing into the evening. Cindy blinked. She was on the other side of the street, standing in front of Jimmy's house.

"How…?"

"Vortex?" Hearing her name startled her, and she looked toward Jimmy, who now stood in front of the door to his lab. He was empty handed, but had he been the one who moved her? She shook her head.

"Did you see what just happened?" she asked shakily.

Jimmy nodded slowly. "Yeah, you almost got squashed by that idiot BMW driver. Are you alright?"

"Is my head on straight?"

He cocked his head, confused. "Yes."

"Then I'm fine." She took a breath, then walked toward the boy genius. He watched her strangely.

"Why did you come over?"

She rolled her eyes. "You know, just wanted to check up on your dad."

"…Oh."

She almost died; he'd missed her sarcasm. "Of course I'm not here to check on your dad! I wanted to, well, finish our conversation from math." She looked down. "Please tell me what's going on, please."

She looked up, and Jimmy locked eyes with her. She held her breath. "Come on." He swiped a hair across his lab's DNA security device, and the door slid open.

Cindy was aghast.

Jimmy, Jimmy Neutron, James _Isaac _Neutron was inviting her, Cindy, Cindy VORTEX of all people, a girl _and_ his reputation-al sworn enemy, into _his_ lab? "No… friggin… way," she whispered.

"Huh?" He watched her with a raised eyebrow. Was that a tint of red? She shook her head, and followed him in.

The lab had changed since she'd last been in it. Things were more organized, and it held a more homey feeling. There was a couch, not recently sat in, but a half empty can of purple flurp was sitting on a coffee table. Papers were all over the worktables, and from her quick glances, Cindy recognized formulas similar to the one Jimmy had been working on in school.

Jimmy pointed to the couch, and Cindy sat. It was comfortable. She gave Jimmy her full attention, waiting expectantly. He leaned against a console of some sort, deep in thought.

"I don't think I should tell you," he said finally.

It took a moment for his words to sink in. "Wha? Wait, why not?"

Jimmy sighed, massaging his temples. He looked just like Mr. Corbet, and Cindy would have, had it been under other circumstances, giggled. Instead, she huffed, leaning back in the comfortable cushion.

Jimmy hadn't expected her reaction, and cocked his head. Cindy loved how cute he looked when he did that, and smiled. Now he became _very_ confused. Cindy hopped off the couch.

The can of purple flurp shook.

"If you don't want to tell me, then promise to tell me soon?" She gave him a hopeful look.

Jimmy considered. "Okay," he finally said. "I'll tell you when I'm ready." Cindy nodded.

"I have another question, though."

"Oh? Go on."

"This necklace…" She noticed Jimmy's eye twitch. "I noticed, it's glowing. And the chain, it has words on it. What does it say?"

The boy genius only smiled, and Cindy found herself quite irked. "Want a purple flurp?"

"Don't change the subject, Neutron!" He laughed.

"Let me walk you home." She opened her mouth to yell at him, but he was already walking away. She glared bitterly in his direction before deciding to continue the conversation outside.

The cooler night air surprised her. Jimmy's lab had been warm and comfortable, and she found herself missing the homey feeling. She caught up with Jimmy on his front lawn.

"Stop running away! You have to answer, like, _one_ of my questions, at least!" She heard him laugh ahead of her. "Jimmy!" He stopped at the edge of the road. Cindy glared at his back. But he didn't say anything. In fact, he was entirely still. "Jimmy?"

She stepped around him, and then things seemed to slow down. First she noticed the steam, rising into the air with a hissing sound. Then she noticed the BMW, smashed up and burning. Slowly, her eyes swiveled to look at the other car involved, but her eyes wouldn't focus. She was wondering why before she realized tears were slipping down he cheek. _Why?_ she asked herself. _Why am I crying?_

Jimmy had run across the street, ignoring the BMW for the Honda that it had hit. To Cindy, he was a blurred figure, recklessly smashing through the Honda's window, cutting himself on the shards of glass. _What a stupid boy,_ Cindy thought. The world was swaying around her, or maybe it was she who was swaying.

The blob of a boy had opened the Honda's door, pulling out another blob, a redish blob, and the boy pulled the red blob far from the burning blob and the broken blob. The boy blob returned to the BMW and pulled out a black blob.

The black blob was talking, pushing the boy away. "No," Cindy voiced mostly to herself. "No, he shouldn't be doing that."

She blinked, and the blurriness went away. Something was buzzing in her ear, slowly getting louder and louder, but she soon realized it was her, screaming.

…

…

…

"DAD!"

………

_Continued in the next chapter: Falling Up_


	3. Falling Up

………

Chapter 3: Falling Up

The beeping and wooshing noises were the only thing she heard in the room. Some fractured and broken ribs. A broken arm. Punctured lung. On top of that, he hit his head. Even if he _did_ survive, the doctor said, the damage on the brain might cause problems.

Cindy stood in the doorway, having walked in as the doctor gave his report to her mother. "Is there really nothing that can be done?" her mother asked, almost hysterically.

The doctor scratched his head. "There were was a mix up in a supply list. We don't have enough clean implements to successfully sew up the cuts, and it will be a few hours before those arrive." The man sighed. "In all truth, it won't stop bleeding on its own, and if he loses too much blood, we would need transfusions, wihich we're also running short on––I'd say…" he spread his arms wide, "twenty, maybe twenty-five percent."

Mrs. Vortex stifled a sob, and Cindy took a shaky breath. _Save the crying… for after… after… I have to stay strong, for mom._ She stepped up to her mom and guided her to a chair.

The doctor left them alone, and eventually, her mom's sobs had died down; she had fallen asleep. Cindy struggled to contain her fear. Twenty-five at best? That would need a miracle… that would need…

She stood slowly, so as not to disturb her mom, and gazed fondly at her father's sleeping form. She needed to save him, but she couldn't do it on her own. She left the room quietly and went to the lounge area of the floor. A woman with a nurse's hat sat behind a directory desk.

"Excuse me," Cindy started.

"Yes, what can I do for you?"

Cindy leaned over the desk, trying to wipe away the remnants of tears. "Can you please tell me where Jimmy Neutron's room is?" The woman scanned a list.

"Three-hundred and four, honey. Right down that hallway." The woman pointed down a narrow hallway. Cindy nodded and thanked the woman before walking across the lobby area and into the hallway.

The rooms here were much smaller, probably because the patients within had less than severe injuries. Cindy found room three hundred and four quite easily, and paused, considering whether or not she should knock. She decided to.

"Come in," she heard muffled from the inside. She opened the door slowly.

Jimmy looked surprised to see her. "Hi."

"Hi," she replied awkwardly, taking a seat beside his bed as the door clicked shut. "How are you doing?"

Jimmy lifted his left arm for her inspection. It was wrapped tightly in bandages, and there was a brace at the elbow. Cindy frowned. "What?" he asked, worried.

"What happened? How did you get so injured?" Her memory of the incident was all but clear.

He shrugged. "The cars were on fire, so I didn't want to waste any time. I decided to use my elbow to break the window to your dad's car; his door was locked. Fractured it."

"But your whole arm?"

"Glass shards, and I guess some burning," he answered simply, shrugging. He looked tired, propped on a lumpy pillow. The way he was sitting, he looked tense, as though he felt he should be somewhere else. Cindy looked down.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Jimmy strained to lean toward her. "Why?" She had no answer. Now Jimmy frowned. "It's not your fault." Silence. Cindy's lower lip trembled, but Jimmy didn't see. "How's your dad?"

There. He had asked it. Cindy closed her eyes, using the whole of her willpower to not cry. She didn't realize that she hadn't been breathing until she took a deep breath. Jimmy saw the way she was shaking, and reached his good hand to pat her own. "Is he…" he started suggestively.

"No!" Cindy responded, surprised at her own vehemence. "No," she repeated again, more calmly, "he isn't. But, but he will be, soon. They're out of supplies that they need, and they can't stop the bleeding without them. A few hours, he said…"

Cindy was startled when Jimmy threw aside the covers. When he saw Cindy's curious look, he smiled. "As Albert Einstein once said, 'The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.' In other words, we have time, and for a reason. Come on."

Jimmy had answered Cindy's wishes almost immediately, without even knowing it. Cindy had to remind herself that she was still sitting, and got up to follow the agile genius into the hallway.

…

"Is that really all you need?"

The doctor looked surprised. "Well, yes, I suppose. We just can't risk the infection, really."

"Well, don't worry, I have everything you need in my lab."

The doctor didn't say anything. Cindy's hope faltered where it had been rising. "Doctor, what's wrong?"

"Our surgeons are all busy… they're all operating. Usually, we're more prepared for this, but this week had been unusually busy…"

Jimmy glared at the doctor. "What type of hospital are you running here? Why can't _you_ do the procedure? You should have the necessary empiric to suture wounds and set bones." The doctor opened his mouth to say something, then shut it. He was hiding something. Cindy didn't know how she knew, but she knew.

Jimmy shook his head. "We'll think about that later. I'll do the procedure."

The doctor scoffed. "You? You're what, fifteen, sixteen? You haven't even been to college."

Jimmy shrugged. "I tried it once, but I didn't really like it there." The doctor gaped.

Cindy stepped forward. "He's actually a certified genius. He has a license in every area of science." Jimmy looked at Cindy with a strange expression, but she ignored it. "Really, he can do it––"

"Except for that arm," the doctor said quickly, as though searching for an excuse.

Jimmy glanced at his arm. "I can work with it, doctor, don't worry." Cindy studied the doctor. Something wasn't right.

The doctor looked over at Cindy's dad, biting his lip. His gaze drifted back to Jimmy. "You're Jimmy. Jimmy Neutron, right?" Jimmy nodded, realizing he hadn't told the doctor his name. The doctor sighed. "I've heard a lot about you. Alright, I'll so the procedure." Jimmy and Cindy looked at each other, confused.

"But––"

The doctor clicked a button by the door. "Nurse?"

"Yes, doctor?"

"Have the team prepare surgery room F, stat."

"Yes, doctor." The doctor released the button, and turned back to the two teens.

"Alright, kids, go home." He looked to Cindy. "I know it'll be tough, but come back tomorrow to see your father tomorrow."

Cindy took a deep breath. "Will he be okay?" The doctor nodded.

"Don't worry, I can promise he'll be fine… although, please remember, his head…" Cindy nodded grimly, but the spark of hope was growing fast. The doctor laughed. "Don't forget your mother."

Mrs. Vortex had been sleeping through the whole discussion, unaware of everything around her. Cindy paused in walking to her mother and turned to Jimmy. "Wait… where are your parents? Didn't they see what happened?"

Jimmy licked his lips. "They were out of town most of today… they should be back by now. I'll go call them and have them pick us up, since, well, you don't have a car." Cindy nodded slowly, watching him leave the room.

_He's just running away. From what?_

As the door clicked closed behind Jimmy, Cindy moved over to her mother. "Mom, wake up." Her mother stirred.

"Please, darling," she muttered sleepily. "Good news?"

Cindy smiled. "Yeah, they're going to operate on dad now. The doctor says he'll be okay, but there's a slight chance… well, he hit his––"

His mother waved her words away. "I know, dear." She stood up and stretched, attempting to wipe some smudged mascara from her face.

"Jimmy's parents are going to come pick us up, okay? Why don't you head down there now?" Cindy gave her directions. Her mother nodded, still sleepy, and after a longing glance at her husband, left the room. Cindy picked up a few things her mother had forgotten and moved toward the door.

But she stopped before leaving and turned to look at the doctor. "Doctor…"

The doctor looked up, then smiled. "McCarthy."

Cindy nodded. "How did you know it was him? Jimmy, I mean."

"Well, I'd seen him around here, and recognized him from the papers."

"Wait. Around here? After all of the accidents with his experiments, or…"

The doctor shrugged. "Even if I knew, I'm not allowed to disclose any patient information. I'm not his doctor, I just saw him wandering around."

"Recently?" Cindy asked.

"Well, he was here just––"

"Doctor?" a voice asked from over a PA system. The doctor moved over to the button by the door.

"Yes, Nurse?"

"The surgery room is ready for you now."

The doctor thanked the nurse. "Have them come to room three-twenty-seven, please." To Cindy, he said, "I can't talk now, I have a job to do. Drop by tomorrow or something." Cindy nodded and left the room.

As she made her way down the entrance of the hospital, she tried to put piece by piece together. The doctor seemed to imply that he had been there recently. But Cindy knew for a fact that he had been in no lab accidents within the past few months. Was he visiting someone? If he was wandering around, she realized, that _must_ be it.

She found Jimmy and her mother waiting out front. Her mother was unusually silent, and Jimmy's mood had changed from the spark he had had when talking to the doctor to a shallow, tired mood. A silence hung over them like a cloud. Cindy took a deep breath when she saw Mrs. Neutron drive up, relieved that maybe the awkward silence would end.

But the ride home was awkward too. Mrs. Neutron was silent, not even asking about her son's injuries. Cindy thought she would begin to rip her hair out. But she stayed silent too, thanking and bidding the Neutrons goodnight and escorting her mother inside when they got home.

Her mother collapsed on her and her husband's bed. "Will you be alright?" she asked tiredly. Cindy smiled reassuringly, although she didn't feel as great as her smile portrayed.

"I'll be fine, mom, don't worry." Her mother took a deep breath. "Don't worry, mom. That doctor was confident. I'm sure dad will be alright." She patted her mother on the back. "Sleep, okay?" Her mother nodded into her pillow.

…

Cindy retreated to her room, changing and crawling under the covers. But no matter how hard she tried, sleep would not welcome her. She was antsy, worried, and agitated at the same time. Antsy because she was agitated, and agitated because she was worried. Worried about too many things.

She didn't want to sleep, she realized. She wanted to talk. She got up and threw a jacket on over her pajamas. Quietly, she crept down the stairs and out into her front yard. She sighed dejectedly when she saw there were no lights coming from the Neutron residence. She turned to go back home, but then a light caught her eye. It was the light over the lab's door.

Her heart jumped. _Is he awake?_ She dashed across the street in her slippers and stopped before the lab's door. Idly, she wondered if a random arm would pop out and throw her into a garbage can, but nothing happened. She knocked.

There was no answer. She knocked again, louder. This time, she heard a muffled, "Bark, bark!" Then she heard someone speaking, and she knocked one more time. Some machines made quiet noises, and then she heard footsteps. The door opened.

"Cindy?" Jimmy peeked out at her from behind the door. "What is it?"

She looked down, realizing that she was knocking on a guy's door. In the middle of the night. In her pajamas. "I couldn't sleep," she whispered. "I needed to talk to someone."

Jimmy seemed to consider. "Well…" Cindy wondered why he was peeking out from behind the door, and craned her neck to see what he was hiding. It was too dark to tell, but she could have sworn he was blushing. He sighed. "Come in."

He opened the door all the way, and Cindy couldn't help but snicker. He was in his boxers and a tee-shirt. He rolled his eyes, and she stifled her laughter. "Sorry––and thank you," she said quickly. He nodded.

The lab was just as warm and cozy as she remembered. This time, however, the couch had a blanket on it. Jimmy had been sleeping, and Cindy frowned. "I'm sorry for waking you up."

Jimmy shook his head. "No, I wasn't actually sleeping. Just, thinking." Goddard shuffled out from under a table and approached Cindy. "Goddard heard you knocking and got my attention." Cindy smiled at the dog and bent down to pat him on the head. The dog's tail wagged, and Jimmy smiled. "Sit," he commanded, pointing to the couch. When Cindy sat, it was warm underneath her, and she felt at home.

Jimmy leaned against a work console, arms folded, and Cindy found the position suiting for him. "So, you wanted to talk to someone?"

"Yeah," Cindy mumbled, looking away. "Listen, I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you lately. I'm sorry about your arm. And I'm sorry for bothering you." Jimmy moved away from the console and sat down next to her.

"Come on, Cindy, you know those things weren't your fault. Even Rutherford couldn't have predicted what happened." When Cindy said nothing, Jimmy hesitantly reached out a hand and placed it on her shoulder. She started at his touch, and he drew his hand away.

"Sorry," she said. "I'm a little jumpy." She sighed. "Do you think… my dad, think he will be all messed up?"

Jimmy considered. "Surdity––that is deafness, could be possible. He might be paralyzed… or perhaps…" He stopped, realizing he wasn't helping. "I don't know," he finally admitted. "Your dad was pretty beat up, but he's a strong guy. He'll pull through somehow…"

Even though he said it, there was little confidence in his words. Cindy couldn't help the tears escaping her eyes, and turned away to hide it. Jimmy lifted a hand as if to touch her, but let it drop back on the couch. But his own emotions were brought to the surface when he saw her back shaking in silent sobs. "Oh, Cindy… I'm sorry…"

"No," she sniffled, "i-it's… don't b-be…" Jimmy licked his lips before scooting over on the couch and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Suddenly, she swung around buried her face into his shirt. Surprised, it took Jimmy a moment to recover. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her, and she cried and cried.

Jimmy remembered what his mother had done when he'd cried like this as a tiny boy, before he was old enough to go to school. He swayed back and forth with Cindy, holding her tightly. "Don't cry," he soothed. "Come on, now, it'll be alright."

Eventually, her sobbing died down. Her breathing swallowed, and Jimmy realized she had fallen asleep. _Should I take her home?_ No, he decided. He knew that it was useless to be comforted in one place and wake up in another.

Carefully, he slid out from underneath her and pulled a blanket over her. Her eyes were red, her cheeks stained. He had never seen her like this before, and he found it unnerving.

Goddard whined quietly. "Don't worry, boy," Jimmy reassured the mechanical dog. "I think she'll be alright. She's strong." He paused. "I only wonder. What was Nick Dean doing, driving drunk in a BMW so early in the day?"

His dog had no answer for him.

"Oh well. Keep an eye on her. I'm going to get some work done."

"Bark bark?" Jimmy laughed.

"Duh."

The night wore on, and Cindy dreamt of comfort, happiness, and hope… three things she desperately needed.

………

_Continued in Chapter 4: He's Okay, But He Isn't_


	4. He's Okay, But He Isn't

Hey guys. Sorry for the delay, but AP classes suck. Lots. Here are the review responses I missed, sorry!

acosta perez jose ramiro: Have I told you I'm in love with your pen name? Because I'm in love with your pen name. We should get married. And tankies for the support! Nick is a butt, but he turns into something much worse as you'll find out in later chapters. Just keep readin'!

Krystyn: I hope it continues to keep you hooked! Because that would make me happy. Read on, my good reader!

Dcity: Well, I hope this quality doesn't become garbage then. Let me know if it's turning and I'll see what I can do.

starrlightstarbrite: Keep me posted! Tell me if there's something you don't like, pretty please, because I'm trying to make this good.

jimlover54: Well, his secret is quite the secret, but it isn't as simple as one could think…

Ice's Shadow: Yes sir! Ma'am! One or the other!

BlamingYou0606: Why thank you. I'll do my best!

Philip the Great: I'm glad you're enjoying it. This chapter's a bit slow. The action/adventure theme in this story comes later. Enjoy!

Now, on with the story!

………

Chapter 4: He's Okay, But He Isn't

Something clinked in the background, and Cindy was stirred from her sleep. It took her a long moment to remember a) who she was, b) where she was, and c) what the HECK she was doing in Jimmy's lab. When she was sure she remembered everything, she carefully folded the green blanket that had been just as carefully placed over her. Then, standing and looking around, she set off to find Jimmy.

The lab was much bigger then she last remembered. Different rooms carried different things. One room was filled to the brim with all of Jimmy's successful experiments. Another contained the not so successful ones. One room was a greenhouse, and another was an aquarium. A third was a garage for all of Jimmy's vehicles, and another yet was for chemistry testing. Cindy found Jimmy in the latter, asleep at a desk.

She giggled at the position he had fallen asleep in. He was face-flat on his desk, one hand around a vile of purple liquid, his other around a llama doll, no doubt left behind during one of Carl's visits. Careful not to wake him, she peeked over his shoulder to see what was underneath him, and her smile turned into a frown. It was another sheet filled with formulas, scribbles all over. Cindy perceived a sense of hopelessness in whatever it was he was trying to accomplish, and something told her it mattered.

She took a closer look at the formulas, but couldn't decipher them at all. "Jimmy…" she whispered mostly to herself. "Why won't you tell me what's going on?" Sighing, she pulled a chair over to the opposite side of the desk, resting her head on her arms, her face inches from Jimmy's. She decided the boy needed a little excitement in his life.

…

Her efforts were rewarded with only a ten-minute wait. Jimmy groaned, and his eyes fluttered open. Cindy smiled. "Morning, sleepy head."

The genius yawned, focusing on Cindy. "Mmm… morning, Cindy… Cindy… _Cindy?_ CINDY!" He sat bolt upright, blinking a few times, before realizing what was going on. He let out a breath. "Jeez, you could kill a man."

"Not my intention," she apologized, then smiled. He took in a deep breath, Cindy watching him all the while. He raised an eyebrow. "Hey, um… I know I've been imposing myself on you and all… and I'm sorry, but––"

"Don't be," he interrupted. "How could I live with myself if I didn't help you out when you really needed it?"

Cindy turned slightly to hide her blush. "Well… um, I was wondering… do you think… you could take me to go see my dad?"

Jimmy nodded. "Of course." He stood up sleepily. "Let me just take a quick shower and change."

Cindy nodded. "I'll do the same… half an hour?" The blue-eyed boy smiled.

"Half an hour."

…

Cindy met Jimmy outside of his house about half an hour later. She felt clean for the first time in while, and from the way Jimmy was moving about his hover car, he felt the same.

She had checked on her mother while getting cleaned up, but her mother was fast asleep and Cindy did not want to wake her, feeling she would rather share the news with her mother once she found out herself.

"I haven't seen this thing in a while," Cindy commented, stepping up behind him. He nodded.

"Haven't had much of a need for it lately. Hand me that wrench?"

She complied, picking up the heavy wrench and handing it to him. He took the wrench with ease from her and proceeded to tighten some bolts on the hover car. Today, he wore a red t-shirt and tattered jeans. But Cindy realized that the jeans, however tattered they were, were stylish. She was slightly surprised to notice muscles rippling in his arm as he tightened the bolt.

"Are you okay?" he asked, glancing up at her.

She tore her gaze from his arm and moved it to his face. A smirk crossed her face and she folded her arms. "How could I not be okay with the world's most dashing geek here to escort me to a hospital?" His eye twitched, and he turned back to his hover car. Cindy had meant it as a compliment, but as she looked back on her own words, she bit her lip. How in the heck was that a compliment?

She hoped Jimmy hadn't taken it seriously… but knowing Jimmy… "You know, Vortex, there are plenty of other people who can take you to the hospital." He stepped away from the hover car, looking like he was about to head back inside. Cindy straitened, a panicked look crossing her face.

"No, no! Please, don't go!"

Now _he_ smirked, and Cindy's eye twitched. "That's what I like to hear." Cindy scowled at him. "All aboard! Next stop, the moon!"

Cindy stopped halfway into climbing into the hover car. She spun around. "What?! Why are we going to the moon? What about my dad? The moon? What's gotten into you, I need to know if… if…" He was smiling again. Cindy rolled her eyes.

"I was only––" Jimmy leaned forward and tapped her on the nose, "joking." He climbed into the hover car, tossing the wrench onto the lawn, and flicked on the engine. Cindy huffed and followed him in, determined to glare hatefully into his back the whole ride there.

But as they traveled over Retroville, Cindy's glare softened, and she found herself more than curious. She looked down at the mysterious necklace, then back up at the mysterious boy. "Jimmy…" She didn't know why she said his name. He turned his head around so that he could look at her out of the corner of his eye. His look was almost unreadable, but Cindy saw something.

He was struggling, struggling with something that he wouldn't talk about. He was uncertain, he was… in pain? Physical, mental, both? Too many questions. He blinked and looked back toward the road.

The hospital appeared ahead of them, a tall building amongst many shorter ones. Jimmy parked on a small patch of lawn and quickly climbed out of the hover car. He offered Cindy a hand, and she took it. Together, they walked in the hospital's main entrance. Cindy's heart beat faster and faster as they took the elevator to her father's floor. Jimmy glanced over and offered her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, Cin, everything will be okay." Cindy nodded, beating back the emotions that were coming forward.

Finally, they arrived at her father's door. Cindy looked at Jimmy, biting her lip. "Do you want me to come in?" he asked. She started to shake her head, then stopped and nodded instead. Jimmy smiled. "Let's go."

He pushed open the door, and they stepped in. The bed was empty. Cindy's heart stopped. "No…" she whispered. "No, how could this…"

Dr. McCarthy stepped in. "Oh, you two didn't stop at the desk? Your father's room was moved. He's in the C wing, room…" He checked a clipboard. "Mmm, room four-twelve." Cindy let out a huge sigh.

Jimmy looked back and forth between Dr. McCarthy and Cindy. "Is he alright?"

The doctor smiled. "The operation was a complete success. We were able to make him comfortable as well, as it will take some time for those breaks and fractures to heal. You may see him, but he's on painkillers. In all likelihood, he will be asleep or unable to talk in an intelligible sentence."

Cindy breathed deeply. "And… his head?"

The doctor nodded. "Well, we are unable to pull a complete conclusion on this yet, since he has yet to be conscious in a normal state. But from what tests we have done, your father seems perfectly fine."

A smile spread on Cindy's face and she jumped for joy, attacking Jimmy with a hug. "Oh, I'm so glad he's okay! He's really okay! Thank you, doctor. Thank you so much."

The doctor smiled, but when looked at Jimmy, who was awkwardly hugging Cindy back, his smile faded. "Mr. Neutron, I would like to speak to you later, if you would. It's about a certain matter." Cindy was too overjoyed to comprehend what the doctor had said, and Jimmy simply nodded.

It was only after the doctor left the room when things caught up with Cindy. "What does he want to talk to you about?" she asked, releasing Jimmy and stepping away, a slight blush on her face.

Jimmy shrugged. "I haven't a clue, although… well, you remember how strange he was acting yesterday. Maybe it's about that." Cindy nodded.

"Well, let's go see my father, and you can talk to Dr. McCarthy." Jimmy nodded. With the help of a nurse at a desk, they successfully found room four-hundred and twelve. Cindy didn't hesitate as much before entering this time, but she beckoned Jimmy in after her. She didn't want to be alone.

Her dad slept, surrounded by machines. He was wrapped in cloth almost everywhere, but his face had color, and he seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Cindy pulled a chair up to the side of his bed and sat. She found her father's hand and held it tightly.

"Hey daddy… I'm sorry about yesterday… it was all my fault—I could have stopped your accident… not in a way you would have liked, but I could have. I'm sorry that you have to go through all this pain." Jimmy let the door shut silently behind him. "You know Jimmy, our neighbor? He saved you. He scraped up and fractured his arm to do it." Cindy smiled to herself, caressing her father's hand. "I think that's pretty cool, don't you?"

Jimmy felt a blush creeping up his cheeks. But Cindy didn't even remember he was there. She continued. "The doctor was great. He promised us you would be alright, and here you are. Safe and sound." The machines beeped and wooshed loudly. "Well, maybe not sound, but…" She smiled at her own joke as tears began to wind their way down her cheeks.

Jimmy watched her in awe. Was this the Cindy he thought he knew? He had always known there was a sensitive side to Cindy. But he never thought it ran deep enough for her to pour herself out like this. He heard a small noise by the door, and turned to see Dr. McCarthy motioning him outside. Sparing one last look at Cindy, who had continued talking to her father, he followed the doctor outside of the room.

Cindy heard the door click shut and glanced around. "Where did he…?" she asked herself. She wasn't going to let her opportunity slip away. Quietly, she crept up to the crack in the door. _Score_. She heard voices; Jimmy's, and Dr. McCarthy's.

"…I was 'strongly persuaded,'" Dr. McCarthy was saying. A tone of sorrow was clinging to his voice. "He threatened me."

"That would explain the way you acted yesterday," Jimmy said matter-of-factly. "What did he look like again?"

"An older man," the doctor said, and Cindy could tell he was shrugging. "Short?"

Jimmy laughed scornfully. "I only know of one man… thank you, doctor. I am in your debt. But will your family be safe?"

Cindy heard Dr. McCarthy laugh. "Don't worry about my family, Jimmy. I can take care of them. It's you I'm worried about."

Jimmy's tone automatically changed. "Don't bother. There's a scientific explanation for everything. What has happened, happened…" Then he said more quietly, "and what happens will happen…"

A beeping noise came from somewhere. "That's my pager. Jimmy, I have to go treat a patient. But I'm glad I was able to communicate this to you. Good luck with everything. You take care."

"Thanks, Dr. McCarthy." Cindy scrambled back to the chair beside her father's hospital bed just as the handle turned. She looked up with the most convincing face she could muster.

Jimmy bought it. "What was that all about?" Cindy asked.

Jimmy pulled up another chair. "Cindy, someone threatened Dr. McCarthy a few days ago. This someone said that when a Mr. Vortex was admitted into the hospital, Dr. McCarthy was to let him die. Or else."

Realization slowly dawned on Cindy. "But… what?" She couldn't fit the pieces together.

"This someone knew what was going to happen to your dad, which means he arranged it. Someone is out to get your father… no…" Jimmy murmured, anger flashing in his eyes.

"No… Someone is out to get _you_."

………

_Continued in Chapter 5: If Only It Were That Simple_


	5. If Only It Were That Simple

Okay, here's the next chapter. A warning to all readers out there, this chapter gets mildly close to inappropriate to those under thirteen. Don't say I didn't warn you! Anyway, I'm happy you guys are liking this stuff.

Terra Neptune Vergo: I'm typing as fast as my wittle fingers can! Hope I'm not displeasing!

xJCManiak12x: Glad you're enjoying it. I'm sorta proud of it myself.

retroville9: Glad it's flipping awesome? I'll keep writing, but tell me if I'm doing something wrong.

jimlover54: Haha, okay, updating!

Dark Lady of the Sith: Hmm, you don't know the beginning of it. There will be some major twists in coming chapters. Expect the unexpected is all I have to say. Not all is as it seems… dun dun dunnnn! Thanks for the review.

BlamingYou0606: Hope I don't disappoint.

acosta perez jose ramiro: Are you so sure Cindy is the one in danger? Well you'll find out whether or not you're right in coming chapters. As for marriage, I'll settle for your name, thanks. It's 'zomg' amazing. Thanks for the review!

starrlightstarbrite: Woohoo! I'm glad you liked it! I hope this chapter will be better.

Nikufei: Your first one, eh? I could recommend a few good ones for you. Glad you're enjoing it.

On with the chapter. Enjoy!

………

Chapter 5: If Only It Were That Simple

School was a bother. Cindy was convinced, now. She watched the teacher at the front of the room drawl on and on. Her father got out of the hospital today. Everything would finally be back to normal.

Well, almost everything. Jimmy was more distant then ever. It had been two weeks since her father's accident, and he had steadily grown farther and farther apart from her. She didn't want to push anything, but she was losing him to himself, and she desperately wanted him to be okay.

As usual, he left math early. But this time, Cindy had come prepared. As a special favor, she had asked her mom to call in and tell the school that she had to leave five minutes early to make an appointment. When Jimmy stood to leave, her bag was already packed. She followed him quietly out into the hallway. His pace was brisk, his long legs moving faster than her normal gait, and she had to jog quietly to keep up.

But when she rounded a corner in a part of the building unfamiliar to her, he was gone. She looked back and forth, but found him nowhere. Cursing, she turned around to head back to the part of the school she knew…

…and ran right into Nick. Cindy clapped a hand over her mouth to hold back her yelp. "Nick!" she panted. "What are you doing here?" she asked, bring down her hand. He smirked.

"Saw you walking all purposefully. Thought it'd be cool to see what's up."

Cindy licked her lips. She realized she had been so obsessed in keeping up with Jimmy that she had failed to notice Nick trailing her. He took up her wrist in her hand. "So hey, there's another party tonight. You wanna' come? I thought, you know, I could take you."

Cindy fumbled with her shirt with her free hand nervously. "Aren't you going out with Betty?"

Nick shrugged. "So you wanna' go?"

Cindy refrained from sticking out her tongue. "You should take Betty."

He ran a hand through his hair. "Nah, she's busy tonight. So what do you say?"

Cindy attempted to pull her wrist free. "I have plans tonight too."

"Oh yeah? With who?" She caught a hint of anger in his voice. Her voice caught.

"With… with Libby."

"Feh," he huffed. "Come on, you can hang out with Libby any time. But I have other stuff to do the rest of the week. So tonight's my only night. Come on, it'll be fun."

Finally, Cindy yanked her arm free. "No, I think I'll pass." She turned around and headed in Jimmy's direction, or at least the direction she thought he'd gone in. Suddenly, Nick grabbed her arm from behind and bent it around behind her back. He clapped a greasy hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming.

"Oh, but I insist. Come on."

Cindy growled. "NO!" she screeched through his clamped hand. It came out muffled, and she felt Nick's breath on her neck as he laughed at her response.

"How about this," he offered, releasing her. She rubbed her arm, glaring hatefully at him. "If you come to this party with me tonight, I'll tell you something I heard about Neutron."

Cindy stopped rubbing her arm. "What? You know something?"

"Yeah," Nick said as if it were nothing. "I heard you'd been pressing Wheezer for some info. So I 'talked' to him. He told me a few things I thought you might like to hear."

Cindy bit her lip. If this fact was true… well, poor Carl. Was she willing to go to a party that was most definitely going to contain drugs and alcohol, two things she steered clear from, just to get information on Jimmy? _Uncertain_ information on Jimmy? With a sigh, she realized she was desperate to know, and nodded solemnly to Nick. "When will you pick me up?"

…

Her dad was already home when she got there. He smiled weakly at her. "Hey, honey."

Cindy smiled back tearfully. "Hey, dad. How are you?" He adjusted his position on his bed.

"Well, I'll still be in bed for a week, but at least I'm home now." He paused. "Honey, did you ever thank Jimmy for me?"

Cindy blinked. "Yes, I did. Many times, or as many as I could. He knows I'm thankful, anyway. And he knows you are too."

Her father scratched his chin. "What has he been up to, lately?"

Cindy sighed. "I… I don't know, I've been trying to talk to him. But he just keeps avoiding me… I don't know…" Her father watched her as she thought, staring through his bed, through the floor, into her own world. She blinked and looked up. "There's a party tonight."

"Oh, Cindy, tonight?" he father complained, staring at her unhappily.

"I'm sorry, dad! But I really have to go to this one… it's super important." Her father continued to frown, but nodded.

"Have you told your mother?"

"Yeah," Cindy nodded, shrugging. "She said I should talk to you." Her father nodded.

"When will you be home?"

"Well, I'm not sure. But I'll try and make it around eleven?" Her father smiled.

"Okay, hon. Be safe," he warned. She smiled.

"Don't worry, dad. I can handle myself."

…

Nick was half an hour late. Figures. "Hey, sexy," he said as she got into the car. She glared at him, but said nothing. They small talked as he drove, and she wondered exactly how long he had had his license. He couldn't be older than sixteen… so was this illegal? Probably, she realized. But his driving was decent, as was his talk.

They talked about little things, classes, weather, latest fashion styles, and Cindy relaxed. Maybe Nick would behave himself. But she would be damned if she left that night without finding out what Nick knew.

He pulled up to a nice looking house. Its driveway was filled with cars. Cars even lined the street, and Cindy's breath caught in her throat. She had a bad feeling. Nick graciously opened her door for her with his charming smile, and she couldn't help but smile back. He offered her a hand, which she took, and together they headed toward the entrance of the house.

Cindy couldn't shake the feeling that she was betraying someone by holding Nick's hand. But his hand was warm and comfortable in hers, and she pushed the feeling aside.

As soon as someone opened the door, Cindy immediately wanted to turn back. The inside reeked of smoke from cigarettes and marijuana, not to mention alcohol. Nick had a firm grip on her and coerced her in with another warm smile and some gentle nudging from behind.

Music pumped from some source, lights dim and colored. Bodies were pushed together everywhere, moving as if in one giant mass to the beat of the music. Nick stepped off to go meet with some friends. Cindy felt sick to her stomach. More people came in the entrance, and she found herself pushed away from the fresh air. Stumbling, she landed on a couch. Nick appeared from the mass of people and shoved a drink into her hands. Cindy sniffed at it. Beer.

"No thanks," she shouted above the noise, shoving it back at him. "I'm not thirsty."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself." He took a seat next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Cindy stiffened, but she dealt with it.

"So…" she started as nonchalantly as she could, "what did you find out? About Jimmy?"

Nick looked over at her and grinned. "I'll tell you in a bit. There are a few things that need to be done first." Again, he offered her the drink.

Cindy sealed her lips and shook her head. He sighed dramatically. "It doesn't have alcohol or anything, it's non alcoholic beer. It's for people who, you know, like the taste. It's cool."

Cindy reconsidered. He obviously wanted her to drink something and wasn't about to let it go. And if it wasn't alcoholic… Gingerly, she took the cup and brought it to her lips. It had a vile taste in her mouth, but she couldn't tell if there was or wasn't any alcohol. She found herself sipping at it as the party wore on, and suddenly Nick whisked her off the couch and into the mass of dancing people.

At first she felt slow, weighted, but soon she fell into sync with the group, moving to the beat of the music. Nick began moving closer and closer to her. Soon, he was right up against her, and she felt insanely uncomfortable. She edged her way out of the crowd and back to the couch. Nick followed, another drink in his hand. He offered it to her, and for some reason, she took it.

The bitter taste flowed into her mouth and down her throat, foreign but warming. It began to taste good. She became slightly dazed, as though her brain couldn't keep up with what her body was doing. Suddenly she was standing again, dancing to the music. Nick was up against her again, but she didn't mind.

_No! _something inside her shouted. _What are you doing? Leave!_ Cindy stumbled through the mass of people, the smoke within the house filling her head. Finally, she found relief from the smoke through a small, dark hallway.

But as usual, Nick was right behind her, following her with the strangest of looks on his face. She slumped against the wall of the hallway, not sure what was going on. Nick took her hand in his, his warm hand, and pulled her further down the hallway. Then suddenly he threw her down on a bed. How did she get into a room?

"Nick, no," she mumbled.

"Relax, everything's cool." He climbed onto the bed next to her. No amount of willing her body to move helped. Cindy was helpless. Nick raised his hand and brought it down over her chest.

An image flashed before her eyes. The car, when she was crossing the road, coming straight at her. And then she opened her eyes, and she was standing, backing away from the bed. Nick looked lost, but shook his head and looked angrily toward Cindy.

"Come on, Vortex, it's cool." He stood, moving toward her.

Cindy's mind cleared. "No," she said firmly. "I came to the party with you, Nick. Now tell me what you heard about Jimmy!"

Nick spat. "_Neutron_? What's with Neutron, anyway? That kid couldn't make out with his own hand, let alone a real girl." He motioned to himself. "Come on, Cindy, all the girls at school would kill for what I'm offering here."

Cindy glared daggers. "Apparently not all of them. Now _tell _me!"

Nick smirked. "Only if you get your ass back over here." His smirk widened. "Or would you prefer to walk all the way back to your house? We're on the other side of Retroville."

Cindy blanched. But she gathered herself and moved toward to door. Nick stared after her. As she exited the room, she turned around. "You're pathetic, Nick."

She didn't dare turn around after that. She weaved her way through the pulsing crowd, past the dancers and smokers and drinkers, and out the front door. The fresh air completely cleared her mind. Striding quickly for fear of Nick following her, she moved to the end of the driveway and started her way down the street. She knew she would be lucky if she got home before dawn, but she wasn't about to put herself at the mercy of Nick Dean.

It was only when she realized she was lost that it finally hit her what had almost happened. Her drink was spiked, and Nick Dean had that planned the entire time. In the end, she learned nothing about Jimmy. But how had her mind cleared so quickly? She slumped down on the street's edge, whatever street it was, and sobbed into her hands. Why had she agreed to this in the first place? Why?

But she knew why. She wanted to help Jimmy, so much. She wanted to know what was wrong, what was taking the spark out of the intelligent boy's life. She was cold, alone, and lost, all because of her own stupidity. She silently cursed under her breath.

Minutes passed, and she felt more and more helpless. She wondered if she should walk all the way into town and see if a bus route was still running when she got there. Or she could walk to the police station and ask to use their phone. Or maybe she should borrow someone's phone. It seemed as though another eternity passed. When she decided she would get up to knock on some random person's door, she heard a whirring noise. She blinked. Did she imagine it?

But the noise grew louder and louder, and she gasped with recognition. Standing, she watched, shocked, as Jimmy in his hover car appeared around the street corner. Jimmy brought the car down just in front of her. He was practically out of the car before it touched the ground.

"Cindy! Cindy, are you okay? Did anything happen, are you hurt?" He was breathing hard, as if he had run all the way here himself. Goddard peeked out from inside the car and whined. "Did he do anything to you? Do you need medical attention?"

Cindy felt the tears streaming down her cheeks before it clicked that she was crying. She stepped forward toward Jimmy, toward comfort, and he was ready to receive her. He wrapped his arms around her shivering body and held her as she cried into his shoulder.

Finally, her sobbing died down, and Jimmy began to let her go. "No," she said, wrapping her own arms around him. "Please don't let go yet." Surprised, he nodded and continued holding her. "Jimmy," she whispered quietly, "how did you find me? How did you know I was in trouble?"

Cindy heard the smile in his voice. "Well, I _am_ a genius and all." He seemed to consider what to say next. "I overheard what you agreed to in the hallway today." He frowned. "You shouldn't have agreed to go to that party with him."

Cindy nodded into Jimmy's chest. They were silent for a few moments. "Jimmy, why can't you tell me what's wrong?"

"Because," he responded quietly, "it just isn't that simple."

Cindy pouted. "Why can't it be that simple? Why does it have to be complicated?"

He sighed. "That's just the way it is." There was another pause. "We need to get you home. Your parents must be worried."

Cindy blinked. "What time is it?"

"Goddard, time?"

The mechanical dog, silent up to that point, displayed the time. 12:47. Cindy groaned. "How can I explain this to them without them taking away my privileges to leave the house? I'll be a bubble girl!" she sputtered.

Jimmy chuckled. "Don't worry, I brought my time morpher. You'll be back home at whatever time you'd like." Cindy took a deep breath, relaxing. Leave it to Jimmy to make things right. For once, it wasn't him who screwed up in the first place. It was then that she realized he smelled good. She took another deep breath. "Uh… Cindy?" She coughed.

"Let's goooo!" She leaped into the hover car overdramatically, and Jimmy watched her with a raised eyebrow. "Come on, it's 12:50 and I gotta be back by eleven!" Jimmy laughed and climbed into the car next to her.

Goddard barked, and then the hover car lifted off the street and disappeared into the dark. The street was empty, save one man standing in the shadows. Silently, he brought something to his mouth. A click was heard. "Kill her," the man said.

………

_Continued in Chapter Six: A Plot Thicker Than Gravy_


	6. A Plot Thicker Than Gravy

Sorry for the delay, guys. I promise I won't give up on this story. And thank you all so much for your support! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

WAYAMY27NARF: Haha, I don't mind your exclamation points. I hope you enjoy this chappie!

okmeamithinknow: At some point in time, I predict you'll find out who's planning what But not yet. Hmm, do you like gravy?

acosta perez jose ramiro: Oh, I'm not done with Nick yet. Don't you worry.

WaterbendingBabe: Don't worry. I'm not letting this story go.

starrlightstarbrite: Join the club, my friend. Writing about Nick like this makes me want to tear him apart too. But don't worry, he'll get what he deserves. Maybe.

jimlover54: Don't choke on your gum! Then how would you find out what happens next? Thanks for the review.

suite-princess: Enjoy the chapter.

Lord Malachite: I must say, I like your little ominous bit at the end, there. Yes, you're right, she might not be so lucky forever.

Nikufei: I'll get back to you on those recommendations. Sorry, but midterms are keeping me most pleasantly busy at the moment… ugh.

Philip the Great: Why thank you. Happy belated holidays to you too. And I still like to give a fair warning when it comes to rating.

Half-elf: Sorry for the delay! But here it is.

Sonomi-chan: Glad you're loving it. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

………

Chapter 6: A Plot Thicker Than Gravy

The cool night air plastered Cindy's hair across her face, and she moved a hand up to wipe away her blonde locks. Jimmy sat in the front, steering the hover car with an expert's hand. Cindy let out a sigh. Thanks to Jimmy, once again, everything would be alright. Had the boy not ventured out into the night after her, she might still be traipsing her way into town. Or maybe she'd have been attacked by a pack of raving mongooses. Or maybe she'd have been knocking awkwardly on someone's door and asking to borrow a phone. Either way, she preferred this solution much better.

Goddard sat curled in her lap. The pulsing electrons that composed his brain cast a light onto her and Jimmy's back. As a child, she had perhaps accepted the fact that Goddard was Goddard, a machine, built by Jimmy, who she had secretly admitted was quite smart. But now she realized for the first time that Goddard was actually a remarkable being all in himself. She smiled at the dog and pet his head. Goddard whined.

Suddenly, the dog's head shot up. "Bark, bark!"

Jimmy spun around. "What?" The hovercraft violently rocked to and fro. Then it was calm again.

Cindy glanced left and right. She turned back to Jimmy. "What was––"

A huge tremor rocked the ship, turning it almost vertical. Cindy slid to the side, grasping the edge with all her might. "Jimmy!" she screamed, not daring to look down. Jimmy fought for control of his hovercar before moving over to grasp Cindy's hand. But as soon as he did, the ship rocked again, and Jimmy's hand slipped. Cindy plunged through the air, watching the hovercar become smaller and smaller as she fell. She waited to hit the ground or feel a tree branch impale her. But nothing came. She figured out that her eyes had been closed and struggled to open them.

Goddard had his neck tied around her wrist. From there it extended twenty or so feet back up to the hovercar. She barely saw Jimmy's pale face peeking over the edge. "Are you okay?" he called.

Cindy nodded, and hoped he saw, because she was too scared to speak. Goddard began to retract his neck. Cindy gasped as some object shot through the air just above her. And to her horror, both she and Goddard's severed head began to fall back to the earth. Whatever the object was, it had sliced cleanly through Goddard's nearly indestructible neck.

The fall was surprisingly, very surprisingly short, but painful. Cindy landed in some bushes, Goddard's head clutched protectively to her chest. The wind was knocked out of her, and she gained a few scrapes from the bush's branches, but after a short moment for recovery, she was okay. She scrambled out of the bushes to look for Jimmy. He was desperately trying to avoid the object, whatever it was, that had cut Cindy's lifeline.

Goddard's head growled, almost tiredly. Cindy looked down at it. _How is it still working? _Goddard growled again, and Cindy saw what he was barking at. Something was in the shadows of the yard she had landed in. She squinted. A man? Goddard snarled.

Cindy snuck up behind the man. He was engrossed in whatever he was doing, something with his hands. But he was watching Jimmy. With one loud "Hi-YAH" and a karate chop from hell, she sent the man spiraling into unconsciousness. Whatever he had been holding flew from his hands. Cautiously, Cindy picked it up from the ground. It was a remote of some sort. Cindy glanced up at the sky again. The object had slowed, and Cindy made the connection. She skimmed over all the controls on the remote before she found two joysticks. One for vertical movements and one for horizontal movements, she deduced. It took her only a moment to figure it out.

She guided the object, now under her control, to land in the street nearest to her. She barely noticed Jimmy hopping out of the hovercar behind her. "What is it?" he asked, dashing up to her side.

She shrugged, then gulped. It was some sort of remote-controlled plane, with blades that glinted in light from nearby homes. An assassin. A killing machine. It was expertly crafted.

She blinked. "I knocked out a guy over there." She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. "He had this remote." Jimmy turned around.

"What guy?" he asked. Cindy gave Jimmy a confused look before turning around. There was no guy. No evidence a guy had ever been there. Only the crushed bush Cindy had landed on, and Goddard's head, which she had set down. The head whined, but the whine glitched.

Cindy frowned. "Will he be okay?"

Jimmy rubbed his temples. "He'll be fine. I think we need to worry more about ourselves…"

"Who's behind this?" Cindy asked, eyes wide.

A sigh escaped Jimmy. "I'm not so sure I know anymore."

…

It was exactly 11:03 when Cindy pushed open the door of her home. Most of the lights were out, but Cindy saw the flash of a television screen in the living room. Quietly, she rounded the corner to find her dad, still awake in his robe, watching an old murder mystery. He looked up, then checked his watch.

"Not bad, honey." He flashed her a grin, and she returned it. Then his eyes creased in worry. "You look very tired. And pale," he added.

Cindy shrugged. "What can I say, it feels like it's two in the morning to me."

Her dad gave her a skeptical look before switching off the television. "Well I'm ready to turn in, too. Come on, pumpkin." Cindy helped her father get up from the couch, for he was still weak from his injuries.

Together, they ascended the stairs to their appropriate rooms. Bidding her father goodnight, Cindy began the painstaking process of getting ready for bed. A mere ten minutes later, she was washed, brushed, and in her pajamas. She wearily dragged herself to her bed, pulling the covers over her and waiting for sleep to take its hold.

But try as she might, no matter how tired she really was, she couldn't sleep. Suddenly, she was crying, silently into her pillow. It all caught up with her again. What had nearly happened with Nick. The spiked drink, the smokers and dancers. The fact that she had nearly fallen thirty feet to her death. The haunting feeling of slipping over the side of the hovercar flipped her stomach.

As her sobbing died down, she became aware of a low-pitched hum. Opening her eyes and blinking, she realized her necklace was glowing. The words inscribed into the chain shined dimly, as though calming, and the hum was a soothing, welcome distraction. Breathing out in awe, she turned over to grasp the crystal at the end of the chain. It was warm. Cindy's fear almost instantly evaporated.

_What _is_ this thing?_ she asked herself. No answer came, but the humming of the necklace was intoxicating and rhythmic. Eventually, her eyes closed, and her thoughts faded into the background of her mind. A lingering emotion stayed with her, however, a thought that resonated through her mind even after consciousness was lost.

_After all that… I never found out what was wrong with Jimmy._

…

Cindy woke up the next morning and found that she had no idea what day of the week it was. Groggily, she thumped down the stairs to the kitchen, where her mother was cooking busily. "Morning, Cindy dear," Mrs. Vortex said, pouring a handful of salt into a pot.

Cindy mumbled something unintelligible before pausing to form her words carefully. "What day is it?" she mumbled.

"Saturday, of course." Cindy blinked. Saturday? Either her sense of time was quite screwed up, or Jimmy had worked his magic. At the thought of the boy, a smile lit her face. "Mmm, dear, go get dressed," her mother prodded, disrupting Cindy's thoughts. "Ned is coming over for lunch today. I don't want you scaring the man away. Oh, that hair!"

Cindy briefly ran a hand through her bed-hair before registering what her mother had said. "Mr. Corbet is coming?"

"Yes, dear, must I repeat myself?"

Cindy ignored her mother's rhetorical question. "I'll go shower, then." Sleepily, she climbed the stairs to her room.

The shower felt amazing on her skin as she imagined all the dirtiness she had accumulated from the previous day washing away. But all too soon it was over, and she dressed, pulling her damp hair up into a bun. By the time she walked down the stairs for the second time that morning, she heard Mr. Corbet's voice from the living room.

"Cindy!" the man greeted, waving from where he sat on the couch. He smiled a big smile. "How are you?"

Cindy sat down next to her dad, who had a cup of coffee in his hand. "I'm pretty good, Mr. Corbet. How are you?"

The man shrugged. "So-so. So many tests to grade. By the way, you did fairly well on the test last week."

Cindy grinned. "I didn't study," she admitted sheepishly. _It's not like I could focus on anything with the whole Jimmy thing._ Mr. Corbet raised an eyebrow.

"Vortex, your daughter is too smart!" he complained, smiling at Cindy's dad. Cindy's father opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted.

"Lunch!" Mrs. Vortex called from the kitchen.

"Do you need any help, honey?" Cindy's father yelled back, standing with some trouble. Cindy rose to help him, but he held up a hand and was able to stand. He strolled into the kitchen.

Cindy moved to follow, but stopped when Mr. Corbet stepped in front of her. His face was creased with worry. "Honey, is everything okay with Jimmy? When you said you didn't study, I just assumed it was because of that."

Cindy shrugged. "It's a lot of stuff, Mr. Corbet, but don't worry." The man nodded.

"Just remember, I'm here for you. If it's something you can't talk about to your parents… as in you did something…"

A blush rose on Cindy's face. "Mr. Corbett!" The man laughed, patting her on the back. Cindy glared after him as he walked toward the kitchen. _How embarrassing._

…

Lunch was especially good that day, and after an hour of sitting and talking, Mr. Corbet bid them farewell and left. The family of three sat quietly in their living room, the only noise coming from the ticking clock over the mantel. Cindy noticed a secrety look that her father gave her mother, who stood and disappeared. A moment later, she came back with a wrapped box.

Cindy blinked. "What's this?"

Her parents smiled at each other. "Because of the whole accident business, we were never able to give you your surprise," her father said. He looked down sadly. "But the better surprise was destroyed in the accident. It was in the front seat of my car. It got smashed."

Cindy frowned. "I'm sorry, dad."

"No, no, honey. It's not as if it were your fault. But this present, we hope, will be a welcome gift anyway."

Her mother smiled at her. "We paid a good amount of money for it too, so you had better like it, Cindy." Cindy raised an eyebrow. Her mother handed her the box, and carefully, she ripped it open.

She gasped. Inside was a little puppy. Not a living one, but a robot one. And Cindy could recognize the craftsmanship anywhere. "Jimmy?" she questioned her parents.

They looked puzzled. "No," her dad said. "When your actual gift was damaged in the car, your mother went out to look for it again. But she couldn't find it. She came back to the hospital to tell me that. And outside the hospital… well, you tell the story, honey."

Her mother nodded, as though the duty was rightfully hers. "I saw a doctor standing outside of the entrance. He was smoking, and I thought it was oxymoronic, that a doctor should be smoking. So naturally," she said, emphasizing 'naturally,' "I told him that smoking is a dirty habit, and that he should stop. He gave me a very sour look, I must say.

"'I'll pardon that, ma'am,' he said to me. 'But would you like to buy a puppy?' Of course, I was unsure as to whether buying you a puppy was a good idea, ever since…" Cindy realized her mom was referencing her previous dog, who had died about a year ago. She shook her head, signaling for her mom to continue. "But then he showed me the puppy. Isn't it adorable, dear? Of course, I was suspicious. I asked him why he was selling it. He told me that he had bought it for his son while he had been on a trip to New York, but his son's girlfriend hated dogs, even mechanical, and his son refused to take the puppy."

Cindy studied the adorable puppy, deep in thought. It had definitely been made by Jimmy. Had he started some sort of robotics business? "I hope you didn't pay too much for it," she said, looking up at her mother.

Her mother waved a hand, then paused, seeming to fumble with words. "Nothing… is… too much for you, dear." Cindy blinked. Her mother wasn't one to use phrases like that, and she knew it was a once-in-a-blue-moon event. She stood and hugged her mother, then her father.

"Thank you, so much, both of you." They smiled and nodded, then shooshled her away to play with her puppy. Once in her room, Cindy removed the puppy from its box. It had the same sort of brain cap as Goddard, but the puppy hadn't been activated. It was about half the size of Goddard, but a darker blue-grey. There was a slip of paper at the bottom that Cindy hadn't noticed before. Carefully, she removed it from the box and unfolded it.

_Speak the word 'Skylar,'_ was all that was written. Cindy looked from the note to the puppy. "Skylar," she said. Nothing happened. Then, suddenly, a spark of light tore through the brain cap. The puppy's eyes lit, and after another second, the little bundle of metal shook its head, looked up at Cindy, and barked.

Cindy smirked. "What should I name you, little one?" Then she laughed at her own joke. "As if I have a choice. So tell me, Skylar, what is the story behind you?" Skylar, cocking her head at Cindy, yipped before jumping into her lap. Cindy pet the puppy on her surprisingly warm head. Cindy frowned. "You aren't going to answer me?"

Skylar paused in her tail wagging and looked up at Cindy. Then, to Cindy's surprise, a little screen popped out of the puppy's torso and angled up toward Cindy's face. _I would tell you if I knew,_ the screen read. When Cindy finished reading, the screen changed. _This is my first activation._

"Ah, a newborn," Cindy muttered sarcastically. "Do you know anything about yourself at all?"

_Accessing data logs…_ appeared on the screen. Then a moment later, _I was originally made for a Ms. Cindy Vortex. But due to unknown circumstances, I was sold. That is all._

Cindy blinked. "So you _were_ made by Jimmy! But then…" Cindy didn't see how things fitted together.

_Who are you?_ Skylar asked, examining Cindy with wisdom beyond its alleged years.

"Cindy," she replied. The puppy grinned in a cute way. "Come on, Skylar. You and I are going to go pay Sir Neutron a visit." Skylar barked from behind as she moved toward the door, and had Cindy not known better, she would have suspected Goddard was there.

………

_Continued in Chapter 7, Can The Gravy Get Any Thicker?_


	7. Can the Gravy Get Any Thicker?

Okay guys, so sorry about the delay. Major writer's block. See, my problem is, I know where the story's going to start, and I know where the story's going to end. It's getting there that's the problem with me. But I'm tacking something out. As soon as I have the storyline down pat, things will be moving faster.

Reviews:

Lily Knotwise: Sorry for taking forever! But I'm really happy you like the characters.

acosta perez jose ramiro: Yes, gravy. Got a problem? Haha, thanks, I'm try to make it fit.

jimlover54: Thanks, will do.

StarrNight: Haha, thanks for the cookie. But I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the next chapter to get the full scoop! But be ready, this one's good, I think.

KaliKeena1492: Thanks.

snoopykid2991: Haha, um, IT'S UP! Did you hear me?

Poisoned Elfy: Interesting pen name. And yes, it was rocking. It was doing much of the rocking.

Nighmare Alive: Sorry! Here it is.

JammyDodger217: It's a good thing you love my story. So here's another chapter. _Just_ for you.

Without further delay, here's chapter seven!

………

Chapter 7: Can the Gravy Get Any Thicker?

The afternoon sun left long shadows stretching across the street. Cindy looked both ways before crossing, like the good little girl she was taught to be. Skylar trotted at her heels, taking in the sights and sounds of the world as a real puppy would. She stepped lightly onto the Neutrons' front lawn and knocked, loudly, on the lab's door.

There was no response. She knocked again. Nothing.

"Jimmy?" she called, eyeing VOX's red eye. But nothing stirred from within. Cindy moved away from the lab and went to the Neutrons' front door, ringing the bell. After a while, Mrs. Neutron came to the door. Cindy stepped back in surprise when she saw tears in the woman's eyes. "Mrs. Neutron?"

"Oh… Cindy, hi, dear."

"Is everything okay?" Cindy asked quietly.

Mrs. Neutron blinked back more tears. "Oh, Cindy…" The immense sadness that filled the woman's face would haunt Cindy in her sleep, she knew. Mrs. Neutron turned around as someone else approached the door. It was Jimmy. His eyes were red. He smiled reassuringly at his mother, who waved goodbye to Cindy and disappeared back into the house.

Jimmy stepped out, Goddard at his heels, and shut the door behind him. He leaned against it. "Hi," he said.

Cindy stared at him baffled. "Won't you tell me what's going on? Please, Jimmy, this… all this…" She waved her hands through the air. "Please… I want to help."

"You can't," Jimmy replied, almost icily. Cindy was taken aback, but recovered quickly.

"How do you know?"

Her question surprised him. Then he smirked. "Because I know everything." Cindy rolled her eyes.

"I used to think that, too…" she muttered. Jimmy didn't hear. She remembered why she had come. "So. I got my birthday present from my parents today."

"Oh?" Jimmy said, intrigued. Cindy stepped aside, and Jimmy's breath caught in his throat.

Cindy smiled. "So you did make her."

Jimmy shook his head. "How…? Where did you… when…"

"My parents bought it from a doctor at the hospital." When Jimmy still said nothing, Cindy prodded further. "I didn't know you were into the manufacturing business."

Jimmy groaned. "I'm not… ugh, how did this…"

Skylar seemed delighted by the attention she was getting from Goddard. They sniffed and whined at each other before contentedly watching their respective masters.

"So, are we going to explain?" Cindy asked, batting her eyelashes.

Jimmy was stuck. He could say no. He should say no. "Fine. Let's go to the lab."

He stepped onto the lawn and Cindy moved to follow. She glanced toward the road and almost bumped into Jimmy when he stopped.

"Jimmy?"

He made a sort of strangled noise, then turned around. "Hey. You wanna go to Retroland?"

Cindy blinked. "…What? Now?"

"Yeah!" His eyes grew excitedly. But Cindy saw a sort of sadness behind that.

"Um… well, sure, I guess."

Jimmy nodded as if her answer was the only answer. "Okay, then, let me go tell my parents. You go tell yours."

Cindy could only stare as he disappeared into his house. She looked at the two robotic hounds sitting happily at her feet. "What just happened?" Skylar seemed to grin up at her.

…

Retroland was bustling on the warm Saturday night. They sat on a bench near the food stalls after having gone on the bumper cars, two roller coasters, and the teacup ride. Jimmy munched happily on his cotton candy while Cindy watched, amused.

"This hits the spot," he said through a mouthful of the stuff.

"I can tell," Cindy replied, rolling her eyes with a smile.

"You got a problem with my cotton candy, Vortex?" he asked, as if challenging her.

"Maybe." She smiled. "Maybe I'm just jealous."

"You could go get some."

She shrugged more seriously. "I'm not really hungry enough for a whole one. Besides, I want to save the money I have for more rides."

"Ah, I see." He nodded matter-of-factly.

Cindy gave him a confused look. "Hmm?"

"Here." He pulled a larger chunk of cotton candy from its paper cone and held it out to her. She only watched him. "Well? Aren't you going to take it?" She didn't know what to say, and he moved it closer to her nose. "Mmm, doesn't that smell good? Now have some."

She took it slowly, ripping off a small piece and putting it to her lips. The cotton candy melted as she chewed, and she couldn't help but smile. A few seconds later, the chunk the boy genius had given her was gone. She licked her lips. "…Thank you."

He smiled. "Sure." He finished what was left of his cotton candy, then stood and offered her a hand. She took it after only a moment, and without letting go, he led her to another ride. It was the newest and biggest of rollercoasters in the park he pulled her onto, and she felt a little uneasy.

"Hey, Jimmy, as much as I love roller coasters, I don't know if I'm up for this one right now."

Jimmy turned around. "I'm sorry, what was that?" He hadn't heard her. He had been too excited, looking around at the mechanics and the scenery. "Is something wrong?" Cindy saw the excitement in his face. She knew he would get off with her if she asked him to. But for the first time in a long time, he looked truly excited to be where he was.

She smiled. "No, nothing, never mind."

The handbars locked into place as the ride was loaded. Jimmy looked ready to jump out of his skin. Cindy smiled to herself. _He'll always be a little boy on the inside_. With a sudden jerk, the chain of cars began to move, climbing up the first of many hills on the rollercoaster. Cindy bit her lip nervously, but made sure Jimmy didn't see. She was going to enjoy this. For him.

The coaster lurched up the incline, and gradually, the view of the theme park in the dimming light of the evening became breathtaking. Cindy had never seen Retroville as such a beautiful place. The sparkling mixed lights from the theme park in addition to the organized plain lights of the streets around the park danced in Cindy's eyes. She opened her mouth to comment, when suddenly, the ground seemed to drop out from underneath her. She had been so wrapped up in the view that she hadn't noticed they had reached the top of the hill. She screamed. "Get me OFF THIS THINGGG!"

But Jimmy was holding his hands in the air, having the time of his life. When Cindy couldn't scream anymore, even after the fall had ended, she tried to take in more breath and scream again, but found herself laughing. Jimmy was laughing too as they came to another hill. "Oh… MY—!" She screamed again, but began to laugh despite herself. Jimmy grinned at her as the car swerved left, then right, then down and up again. Cindy wondered what she had been afraid of.

As the next hill came up, she closed her eyes and focused on the sensations. The wind through her hair. The exhilaration. The feeling of leaving her stomach behind, only to have it catch up with her again. The warmth of Jimmy's hand on hers. She opened her eyes as she realized this. While one of Jimmy's hands was waving through the air, the other held hers tightly. He didn't seem to notice, or care. Like it was natural. She decided she liked it. Jimmy's touch was warm. Nick's was so… She pushed the thought from her head, enjoying one last hill as the ride eventually slowed to a stop.

Jimmy bounded out of the car, his hand still gripping Cindy's, and together they laughed and ran their way out of Retroland and into the town park. Jimmy threw himself down onto a bench, trying to catch his breath, the smile on his face wider than Cindy had seen it in a long time. She panted too, crashing down on the bench next to him.

"That… was great!" he shouted between breaths.

Cindy nodded, a hand on her chest. "I'm glad… you took… me on it." Jimmy grinned in response, his eyes closed as his breathing began to slow.

Finally, their breathing became somewhat normal. "Thanks for coming on it with me," Jimmy said. "I know you didn't want to."

Cindy looked at him, surprised. "You heard me before?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. I got the general idea of what you wanted anyway. I was… being selfish."

She smiled smugly. "Yes. Yes you were." He looked down sorrowfully. "But I'll forgive you, this time." She looked at him and smiled. He didn't look back, his eyes hard to see in the dim light coming from a nearby lamppost. He was quiet. "Jimmy?" There was no response. She moved her face closer to his, trying to see if his eyes were open. They were closed. She placed a hand on his shoulder and shook him. "Jimmy?" He mumbled a little. She shook her head. "What a time to sleep… hey, wake up." But no amount of shaking woke the boy. She looked toward the park entrance. They weren't far from home.

Carefully, she hooked his arm around her shoulders and slowly made her way from the park. For a boy of his size, he was surprisingly light. The trip home took fifteen minutes. Cindy was panting again by the time she reached Jimmy's front lawn. All lights in the Neutron household were off. She didn't want to disturb his parents, deciding to take him to the lab instead. Goddard greeted her as she entered, and she lightly laid Jimmy onto his couch.

He grumbled in his sleep, and Cindy smiled. But her smile turned to a frown. The lab was in a mess. She decided to help him tidy up a bit before she left. Papers littered the floor and surfaces in the lab. They were all covered with algorithms. Surprisingly, the papers were all lettered and numbered. She found A1 through A16 in one corner, and found C2 through C24 in another. She had to dig around a bit on a table of J's to find C1. She looked over them as she collected them, wondering what all the numbers and formulas meant. She noticed that the same formulas were used for each collection of letters with different variables. But the formulas were so long, they required many pages to be solved, some more than others.

As she finished stacking the papers she could find in different piles on a table, she realized all the formulas had to have an end result. She pulled out the last pages of each pile and set them next to each other. On each, the result was circled in red. The numbers were all negative, except for the last one in section O. The result of section O was 'zero.' She saw that the result from A was less than the result from B. And the result from B was less than the result from C. _So he's trying to make this end result larger. Probably something above zero._

A tiny robotic whine from behind her made her turn around. It was Skylar. _Your parents are worried,_ she said.

"Uh oh. How late is it?"

_Twelve._

"Shoot! I have to get home." She paused. "Do you know anything about this?" she asked, pointing to the paper.

Skylar's robotic neck stretched, allowing the tiny puppy to see what Cindy was talking about. _It seems he is trying to produce a number greater than zero. I cannot conclude much more… though, it seems the formula he is using is one to deduce red blood cell count._ The puppy seemed to look at it some more. _He has changed this formula to make the minimum required red blood cell count for a human body of his size equal to one. I assume it would be less confusing that way._

Cindy blinked. "What?"

_Hypothetically, with this formula, if the answer is zero, a human within the limits would have one red blood cell too few to survive. I can only assume he is altering the variables, those he can, to produce a number greater than zero._ The puppy retracted its neck. _He came close_.

"This… this is why he decided against taking me to the lab."

There was a noise at the entrance. Cindy stumbled backwards, shocked as what Skylar said registered in her head, hardly noticing the person at the door.

"What's going on? Jimmy, sweetie, are you down there?" It was Mrs. Neutron's voice. She entered the lab, stopping in surprise when she saw Cindy. "Oh, Cindy, dear. I didn't know you were here. Is Jimmy asleep?"

Cindy shook herself out of her shock, trying to respond to Jimmy's mom. "Well… he fell asleep in the park, so I carried him home—"

"What??" Mrs. Neutron nearly shouted, startling Cindy. "Did he say he was tired?"

Cindy shook her head. "No, we were talking and he just sort of… dozed off, I guess, pretty fast." The look on Mrs. Neutron's face scared Cindy. "Is something wrong?"

Jimmy's mother ran to the lab's entrance. "Hugh? Hugh! Call 911!" She rushed to Jimmy's side and shook him hard. He groaned. "Jimmy, honey, hang in there!"

Cindy's mind reeled.

"…………What?!"

………

_Continued in Chapter 8, The Spiral Only Leads Down_


	8. The Spiral Only Leads Down

Hey all! Thanks for all the support! I'm already dishing out the next chapter, and I have things planned out until the end now! I'm going to try and finish before school starts, but that might be hard. Anyway, reviews.

snoopykid2991: I'm on it!

acosta perez jose ramiro: I wonder if humans could live off of gravy and celery. ANYWAY. Thanks for the review. Hope this chapie pleases.

linklovesme: Hope is almost never good enough, unfortunately. Thanks for the review.

LadyFM: Update I shall!

mrmuscle: What the heck is wrong with Jimmy indeed. You find out in this chapter, though! Although not entirely… oh well, enjoy.

Readrbug21: Ah, sorry for the misunderstanding! And yes, I hate rollercoasters. I brag that I've been on the Superman at Six Flags but I only touched it. SHH! Thanks for the review!

Legend of Sheen the freak: Haha, hope that wow was a good wow! Thanks for the review.

OKEYDOKES! Everyone? Seatbelts on? Keep your hands and arms within the car at all times.

And herrrrrre we go!

………

Chapter 8: The Spiral Only Leads Down

"_Come back tomorrow_."

Cindy closed the front door. "_Come back tomorrow_." That's what Mrs. Neutron had said. Cindy leaned against the door, her purse held tight to her chest. Slowly she sank to the floor, clutching her face in her hands.

_What the hell is going on?_

Her own sobs surprised her. She wrapped her arms around her chest, trying to give herself the comfort she desperately needed.

"Honey? What's wrong?" Cindy looked up. It was her dad, standing in front of her in his night robe. Skylar peeked out from behind him. Her dad shakily sank to the floor next to her, putting one of his large, protective hands on her shoulder. "Sweetheart?"

Cindy wiped tears from her eyes. "I don't know, dad. They didn't tell me anything."

"Who? The Neutrons? What were those flashing lights I saw?"

"Jimmy's in the hospital." She used her sleeve to wipe her nose. "He's sick and he fainted and now he's in the hospital and I don't know what to do!"

Cindy's father frowned uncertainly. "Did Judy or Hugh say anything?"

Cindy shook her head. "They just told me to come back tomorrow."

Her father nodded. "Okay. Then listen to me, honey. You can't lean against the door and cry all night about something you know barely anything about. I know this is going to be hard. But I want you to go upstairs and take a hot shower, and then try and get some sleep. You won't be able to be there for Jimmy tomorrow unless you rest up tonight. Okay?"

Cindy sniffled and nodded. Her father offered her a hand as he stood again, and she took it, pulling him into a hug. "Thanks, dad." He smiled down at her.

"I'm sorry about all this, honey. Your mom will gladly drive you over to the hospital tomorrow. I would if I could, but…"

"Don't worry." Cindy rubbed her eyes. "Sorry for making you wait so long."

He smiled. He followed her up the stairs, making sure she was in her room before departing for his own.

…

The hot water pouring onto her face and over her shoulders made it hard for Cindy to know if she was still crying. She wanted the water to cleanse her uneasy heart, but she knew that was asking for a miracle. When she felt she'd had enough, she turned the water off and dried her hair with a towel. By the time she left the bathroom, her parents' light was off, and she made a point to be quiet as she crossed the hallway.

She didn't feel like turning the light on when she got to her room, so she felt her way to her bed, crawling in like a wounded animal. She felt sobs rising in the back of her throat as her thoughts led her back to Jimmy.

Suddenly, through her tightly closed eyelids, she saw a light. And when she opened her eyes, she saw her necklace, glowing brighter than ever before, humming to her. The warmth that spread from it felt so familiar that Cindy forgot her sobs in place of wonder. She tried to find the memory of that warmth and found it many times, all with Jimmy.

_He's comforting you,_ something in her mind told her. Her necklace urged her to sleep, singing a lullaby that couldn't be heard by anyone but herself. Slowly, she drifted to sleep, crying tears of joy and pain as one sob escaped before unconsciousness took over.

…

Cindy quietly entered the hospital room. The door clicked shut behind her, but she could only look at the boy lying in bed, pale as snow, an oxygen tube beneath his nose. His blue eyes met hers, and he smiled.

Cindy, speechless in pain, sat on a chair next to the bed. Finally, she found her voice. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm doing fine, thanks for asking," he replied tiredly.

"Stop it… obviously, you aren't doing fine. Tell me."

"Telling you would only make things worse."

"Then let them get worse. Tell me."

"No—"

"Damn it, Jimmy, you've made me suffer long enough!"

He winced at that, but she didn't regret saying it; it was true. For the past few weeks, Jimmy had been a constant worry and concern, making for restless days and restless nights, in most cases. Jimmy let out a long sigh.

"To be honest, I don't know what it is."

Cindy watched him carefully. "What what is?"

"A condition."

Cindy licked her lips. "Cancer?" she guessed.

Jimmy shook his head. "No. I don't know what it is. The doctors are baffled too. Apparently, it's the first any doctor, even bacterial and viral specialists, has seen of this type."

Cindy swallowed hard. "What does it do?"

"It's slowly poisoning my red blood cells." Jimmy put a hand through his hair. "I don't even get it. It's like slow-moving radiation." He settled into his pillow. "The doctors have found a potential cure. A combination of antibiotics that have the potential to absorb the poisoned cells at a rate that is both above the spreading rate of the poisoned cells and below the rate of new red blood cell production." At Cindy's expression, he continued. "The antibiotics will absorb both good and bad red blood cells at the same rate. If mixed correctly, they could eat the bad cells faster than they are being made, eventually destroying them all. At the same time, though they would be eating good cells too, my good cells would theoretically reproduce faster than the antibiotics can eat them. And once the bad cells are gone, there's a canceling medication that will dispose of the antibiotics."

Cindy closed her eyes, taking in the information. "So why haven't you started the antibiotics?"

Jimmy looked toward the window. "First of all, we aren't sure how the bad cells will react to the antibiotics, because we don't know from where they originated. Second, adjusting the amount of each antibiotic will change the rate at which they eat cells. But there are certain limits in either direction. That is, the amount of each antibiotic I can take is limited because we don't know how badly the bad cells have deteriorated my immune system. Therefore we can only work with an already determined safe amount of each."

"All the papers in your lab, then…"

He nodded. "That's right. I've been working for a long time, adjusting the amount of antibiotics in as many feasible combinations as I could. But because of the safety restriction, I can't get it right." He took the petal of a flower left by his mother and ground it between his fingers. "Every time, every time! I always end up with too few red blood cells because the antibiotic rate is too fast."

Cindy shook where she sat. "…Have you given up?"

Jimmy's eyes turned to meet hers. He stared for a few seconds. "I've tried everything, Cindy, everything. Every combination that had a chance of working. Heisenberg! If only I knew where it came from, or, or how I got it!" He looked at the end of the bed angrily.

"But you don't."

He looked back at Cindy. "I've done everything I could, everything in my power… Believe me, Cindy, I've _tried._ It's why I had to sell your other birthday gift. Prototype C-Alpha. Skylar."

Tears welled in Cindy's eyes. "You can't give up."

Jimmy's eyes saddened at her tears. "What more can I do? I'm going to die."

The words hit Cindy like a brick. She had known it from his explanation. But him saying it, so bluntly… The tears streamed down her face. "You can't die!" Her voice was hoarse.

She shook violently as she suppressed sobs, her eyes squeezed shut as if to stop the truth from getting to her. Her fists were balled at her side, her knuckles white. Jimmy hated himself for telling her. He had known this was going to happen. He reached a hand out to her. "Cin… come on, don't cry." He sighed. "Listen. When the poisoned cells spread far enough through my system, there won't be the right amount of oxygen flow through my brain. I'll be in a coma. I'll go peacefully—"

"NO!" Cindy shouted, turning away from him. "You aren't going anywhere." She wiped tears from her eyes with an arm. "All you need is to know what it's from, right? If you can figure it out—"

"If I can figure it out, there's a _chance_ that we can fix this."

"It's better than nothing," she replied quickly. She turned back to Jimmy, her eyes pleading. "I know you're tired of trying," she half whispered, "but please, for me…"

Jimmy studied the determination on her face. "I have about… a week before I go into a coma, according to the latest tests." He smiled sarcastically. "It was two before yesterday. But that doesn't matter now." He closed his eyes, a hand comically to his chin in thought. "In my aquarium. The week I started noticing symptoms, I was working in the aquarium. If you don't have any luck there, then try the machine room."

Cindy gulped and nodded. "Will you be released?"

He shook his head. "They might be nice and let me out on my last day. But not right now, I'm too weak to walk around." He looked at her steadily. "You're on your own."

Cindy rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay." She turned to go.

"Wait," Jimmy murmured. "There's something that's been bothering me."

Cindy turned around. "What?"

"Well. Your whole life, you've been mean to me." She glared. "And I've been mean to you, too," he added, rolling his eyes. "But, the past few weeks, all of a sudden…" He trailed off, not really sure how to finish his sentence. _All of a sudden… you've been nice? You've cared? You've tried your best to help? You've been here for me? Those don't cover it_. He searched the wall in thought, though truly searching his mind. "It is… 'sprung from my only hate… Too early seen unknown, and known too late'…"

Cindy blinked. Shakespeare? She closed her eyes. '_My only love'…_ Those were the words that truly started the quote. '_My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late!'_ The quote rang in her ears. She opened her eyes and met Jimmy's deep blue. _Romeo and Juliet_. She knew what he was saying. Just like in Romeo and Juliet, they would both end up dead in some way. But he was also saying something else. A love sprung from a hate. " 'Doubt thou the stars are fire; doubt that the sun doth move; doubt truth to be a liar; but never doubt'… " She stopped before finishing the quote. Jimmy looked at her quizzically; he didn't recognize the quote. She smiled and turned.

"Wait. Don't waste time coming to visit me until you've found something. But if you haven't found something in three days, come and visit?"

"Why three days?" she asked over her shoulder.

Jimmy stretched. "By then I might be able to think of something else that could help."

Cindy gave him a look. Why couldn't he just call her? She shrugged to herself and left. When the door slipped closed, Jimmy looked down for a moment. Then he reached out to a panel on the wall and pressed a button. "Yes?" came a voice from the speaker. "What can I do for you?"

"Nurse, if you would please, could you bring me every Shakespeare play you have access to? I have some reading to do."

…

Cindy crawled into the front seat of the car where her mother waited and shut the door, her mind racing. _I have a whole week. I have time._ Her mother glanced over at her distracted face before starting the car.

"Home, dear?"

Cindy glanced up at her, looking at her mother as though she had said something strange or complex. "What… yeah, home, please."

Without another word, her mother put the car in drive and left the parking lot. She glanced at her daughter repeatedly, but a mother knew when not to talk to her child. Feeling slightly uncomfortable, she switched on the radio.

…_you I'm sorry, you don't know how lovely you are… I had to find you, tell you I need you, tell you I set you apart…_

The song went into Cindy's mind and stopped her thoughts. She recognized the song.

_Tell me your secrets, ask me your questions, oh lets go back to the start… running in circles, coming up tales, heads on a science apart…_

The name escaped her. But she remembered Libby commenting on it, that it had "too much of da boo-hoo and too little of the funk." Cindy smiled at the memory. Libby. That's it, Cindy would call Libby. Libby would help her. The song continued in the background.

_I was just guessing at numbers and figures, pulling the puzzles apart…Questions of science, science and progress, do not speak as loud as my heart._

It was ironic, Cindy knew, the fact that this song would come up now. She closed her eyes, losing herself for a second. Then the song came back.

_Nobody said it was easy… oh, it's such a shame for us to part… nobody said it was easy… no one ever said it would be so hard… … I'm going back to the start._

Something snapped in Cindy, and she reached out and switched off the radio. Her mother glanced at her surprised, but they were pulling onto their street anyway.

When Mrs. Vortex stopped the car, she turned to Cindy. "Is that Jimmy boy going to be well, dear?"

Cindy licked her lips. "I'm not going to let it be any other way." Then she opened the door, stepped out, closed it, and ran across the street.

Mrs. Vortex watched her daughter disappear into Jimmy's lab with a face more determined than it would be when shopping for a prom dress. Slowly, she pulled the keys out of the ignition and stepped out of the car, locking it behind her.

She found her husband sitting on the couch. The TV was on, but he hardly seemed to be watching it. He turned when he heard the door close and stood to greet her. "Is everything alright, darling?"

Mrs. Vortex sighed. "I don't believe so." She smiled sadly at her husband.

He raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"I am not sure how good the outcome of this will be for our daughter… but I believe our Cindy is in love."

Her husband smiled sadly too. "I think she is. I hope, for both their sakes, that he makes it through this."

"Preposterous!"

Her husband gave her a look. "What is?"

"You are hoping that that Jimmy boy makes it through this. But my Cynthia is on the task! There's no need for hope, only knowledge. No child of mine will fail when she is so determined!"

Mr. Vortex smiled. He tapped his wife on the nose. "Hey, she's my child too."

His wife scoffed. "Then why, may I ask, are we worried?"

…

Cindy tore through the aquarium, which turned out to be more than an aquarium. It was like a cold room, where Jimmy stored many chemicals, delicate metals, synthesized substances, and machinery for molding such materials. She found the very machine Jimmy had used to make her necklace. The room was gigantic, and Cindy knew she couldn't do it on her own. She returned to the main room where Jimmy's computer was and picked up a phone.

"Hello?"

"Libby!"

There was a pause. "Cindy, girl, where you been? I called a couple times, but you were out of the house."

Cindy sighed. "A lot has happened."

"Between you and Jimmy? And don't you go denying it or something, you know it's true."

Cindy was taken by surprise. She realized that she hadn't even thought of that. Classifying what was happening between her and Jimmy right now just seemed so… irrelevant. "Look, there's more important stuff than that going on. Libby, I need your help. Are you free?"

"Mmm… well, I was _going_ to help my mom organize the garage." Cindy frowned. "But duh, this sounds more important. I'll be right over, kay?"

"Sure… but wait, I'm not at home. Come to Jimmy's lab."

There was another pause. "Girl, are you ca-razy or something?"

"Not yet," Cindy murmured. "Just get over here, okay? Please hurry."

She hung up the phone and decided to go outside and wait for her best friend. She stepped out of the lab and shut the door behind her. It was only then she noticed Mrs. Neutron, red-eyed and teary, moving a suitcase of items into her car. Cindy looked around before walking up to her.

"Mrs. Neutron…?"

The woman jumped. "Oh, Cindy! You startled me."

"Sorry… um, what is all that?"

Mrs. Neutron sighed. "I'm assuming Jimmy told you by now. He asked for some things from home, so I'm bringing them to him. He said he wanted to relive some memories in the next few days."

Cindy cocked her head. "The next few days? Why only for a few days?"

Mrs. Neutron studied Cindy. "He _did_ tell you, didn't he?" Cindy nodded. "Well, maybe he didn't tell you this piece, but…" She closed her eyes to hold back what looked like a wave of tears. "Well, he only has a few days left, dear."

Cindy's heart stopped. "A few days? You mean a week, don't you?"

Mrs. Neutron shook her head. "No, you must have heard wrong. He has until Wednesday."

Her lower lip trembled. A million questions flew into Cindy's head at once. But above all the questions, a single statement took priority.

_He… he lied._

………

_Continued in chapter 9, Is There Such A Thing As False Hope?_


	9. Is There Such A Thing As False Hope?

starrlightstarbrite: Don't worry about not reviewing. I'm just glad you like it so much!

GeniusGirl1010: You'll find out about the song in another chapter, but it was real.

snoopkykid2991: I won't be stopping, don't worry.

linklovesme: Haha, who are you trying to convince. Jimmy might die, and he might not. You'll find out.

mrmuscle: Why, thank you. I'll be updating asap, just for you, haha.

acosta perez jose ramiro: I'll keep the good writing if you keep the good reading…? Haha, anyway, I'm glad you enjoy it.

Readrbug21: Here the next chapter is! A lot is revealed… so be prepared.

Logrus Mage: Hey. Look, you're weird for reading Jimmy Neutron and I'm weird for writing it. But honestly, who cares? So long as we enjoy it. Thanks for the review! Means a lot.

Alright, chillin', let's get this show on the road. A lot is revealed. Be ready!

On your mark, get set, GO!

………

Chapter 9: Is There Such A Thing As False Hope?

The door flew open, and Jimmy almost threw the book he was holding in surprise. "Cindy—?"

"You _lied!_" she shouted, slamming the door shut behind her.

"What?"

"You heard me," she seethed, "you _LIED!" _Her shout bounced around in the tiny room.

Jimmy placed the book he was reading onto a table and folded his hands in his lap. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Cindy shook her head, her eyes shut. "Don't play dumb with me, Neutron." She approached his bed now, bending so that her eyes, wide and angry, were level with his. "You told me you had _one week_, that's _one_ _week_ before you…" she trailed off. "One week! But you only have three days, three days and you told me one week."

_Mom…_ He sighed. "Fine. You're right."

Cindy stepped away from the bed, throwing her arms up in the air. "I can't _believe_ it! Of all the things you could do to me now." She paced the room angrily. Suddenly, she spun around. "_Damn it_, Jimmy, I'm trying to _help_ you." She paced again. "I'm trying to help you and you _lie_ to me. About something so important, how could you?"

"This whole thing is illogical." He looked away from her.

"What is?"

"You, searching like this, trying to find a clue­—don't you think I've tried? I mean, Sherlock has _nothing_ on this case! I've done every possible thing, Cindy! Everything! You can't change this, nothing can change this."

"Oh, really."

The tone in Cindy's voice made Jimmy curious. He looked back toward her, but she was looking away. "Yes, really… unless…"

"Hmm?" She turned back toward him now, arms folded.

"Unless… you've found something?"

Cindy wanted to make a hurtful remark, something to get back at him for what he did to her. But when she saw the look in his eyes, she had to reconsider. It was hope. Pure, but hesitant. Her pain was still there, though, and the anger came back. "Why should I help you? Give me one good reason."

Jimmy looked surprised. He opened his mouth to say something, closed it, opened it again, then looked down at his folded hands. "I… don't have one."

"No. You don't. This whole time, you've avoided me and lied to me and kept me from the truth and never answered my questions and what have I gotten in return?"

Jimmy bit his lip. When she didn't answer her own question, he realized he was expected to. "Well… nothing… I guess."

Cindy sighed. "As much as I want to say that, that's wrong. I—"

"Mmm mm mm, well I see World War Three has already started." The door clicked shut, and both Cindy and Jimmy turned to see Libby, Carl, and Sheen. Carl looked like he was pretending to be in his happy place, and Sheen hid behind his girlfriend.

"Libby? Sheen, Carl? What are you guys doing here?" Jimmy asked.

Cindy cleared her throat. "Have you ever considered how humungous your lab is?"

"What she means to say," Libby started, "is that she enlisted some help." She gave Cindy an angry look. "Girl, I don't know how you got here so fast but you sure gave hospital security a run for their money."

Cindy glared at Jimmy. "Don't remind me how angry I am!"

Sheen stepped out from behind Libby. "Dude, we heard you yelling from the parking lot." Cindy blushed deeply.

Carl seemed to come back to reality. "Oh, hey Jimmy. Guess what we found? It's a mol-ol-ecular spectrosco… spectros…"

Cindy rolled her eyes. "Oh please…" She took a sheet of paper out of her pocket. "We looked all night long and this morning, and believe me, that was _hard_, considering every other moment I thought about how _angry_ I was at you. And we almost lost hope… but, we _did_ find something." She handed it to Jimmy.

He looked over the sheet. He drew his eyebrows together in concentration as he read, then his eyebrows shot up. "This is… this is a molecular spectroscopic report. From my computer?"

"Yeah. We were looking through your disaster logs. And about a month ago, there was a statement that a minor amount of radiation was detected. It said the amount wasn't of a concentration that could be harmful to humans."

"Yes, I found that too while I was looking. But the amount wasn't harmful enough, so I dismissed it."

Cindy smiled conniving. "Right. But what were you doing that created that radiation?"

Jimmy blinked, eyebrows furrowed. "I was…" He looked up at Cindy. "I was making your necklace."

"Exactly. Jimmy, the radiation your computer detected was only the concentration that reached the sensor. The sensor is far away from where you were working. Is it possible that somehow the radiation seeped into your blood while you were making this?" she asked, holding the necklace up.

Jimmy groaned and put his head in his hands. "Ugh… how could I have been so stupid...?"

Cindy gasped and turned to Libby. "You're a witness! He said he was stupid!" Cindy's eyes sparkled. Libby just rolled her eyes.

Jimmy shook his head, looked up at Cindy, and smiled. "You're a _genius._"Cindy only shrugged.

Libby shook her head. "Look, that's all fine and dandy. But how are we going to get a sample to test? Now that we know what the source is, don't we need a sample of the source to get the amount of antibiotics and stuff?"

Cindy frowned. "You're right."

Sheen scratched his chin. "You know, I'm not so good with this stuff, but… what about the necklace?"

Cindy and Jimmy looked at each other, then Sheen. Jimmy nodded, the idea sinking in. "You're right! Theoretically, the teardrop can be punctured by a needle without damaging the necklace! Only a small amount is needed, so this might work!" Everyone smiled. For once, things were looking up. "Cindy, take the necklace to the doctors right away and explain everything to them." He bit his lip.

_This may work…_ he thought. _But… do I have enough time?_

…

Cindy left the office room where Jimmy's hoard of doctors were on a coffee break, feeling vulnerable without her necklace. She also felt a constant fog of hopelessness. Sure, they found what _might_ be the cause. Even if they determined it was, though, they would have to calculate the proper amount of antibiotics and then _order_ them. And then some guy at some special antibiotics factory a couple hundred miles away would have to make the right prescription and the right amount and then some _other_ guy would fly them by helicopter to the hospital.

Cindy let out a long sigh. _It's already Monday afternoon… Will they get it here by Wednesday?_ She was walking slowly back to Jimmy's room when she saw Libby, Sheen, and Carl gathered outside his door.

"Hey, Cindy, we're going to head home," Libby said.

Cindy nodded. "Sure. But is there any reason why?"

Libby smiled secretively to Sheen and Carl. "Well," Carl answered, "we think it might be better for you guys to be alone for a little while, now that all we can do is wait."

Cindy raised an eyebrow. "Okay…? Whatever you guys want." She walked to Jimmy's door.

"Are you going to be alright, Cin?" Libby asked, placing a hand on her best friend's shoulder.

Cindy nodded. "I think so. There's hope, now, right?"

The three others nodded. "Alright, well call me whenever, okay?"

"Sure, Libby. See you guys."

As they left down the hallway, Cindy opened the door to Jimmy's room. He looked up as she entered.

"Hi," he said, putting the book he was reading down. In Cindy's non-angered state, she noticed what it was. A book of Shakespeare sonnets. She smiled to herself.

"Hi," she answered him. She scratched the back of her head. "I'm sorry… about before."

He shook his head. "You were right to be angry." He paused. "Libby said you were really hurt." When Cindy said nothing, he continued. "She said she had to stop you from crying when she got to my lab and a couple times while you were searching."

Cindy looked away. "Sorry."

Jimmy sat up. "No, no! You don't have any reason to be sorry." He watched her closely, but she didn't turn back toward him.

"You were really prepared to give up, weren't you?"

He thought for a moment, easing himself back into the pillow. "I don't really know."

Now Cindy turned. "How could you not know, though? Were you really ready to… die?"

Jimmy looked at her to see if there was a particular answer she was expecting. But all she wanted was the truth. He answered slowly. "Knowing that… I have a terminal illness ruined my parents. They couldn't function anymore." He laughed. "You know my mom hasn't made a pie for weeks." His smile faded, and he stared out the window. "I've tried so hard to find a cure, to find out what went wrong, trying to save myself so I could save them. And me too."

Cindy looked hurt. "Why didn't you ask for help?"

He looked back at her. "After I saw what it did to my parents, you think I would want to do that to someone else? The less you knew, the less pain you would go through."

She huffed. "Not knowing hurt me more. Besides, if you really didn't want me to know, why were you acting all… I don't know, emo about it? You made it really obvious that there was something wrong."

"Yeah, but I asked for you to ignore it. And you wouldn't. You kept pushing for answers."

"Because I was worried…"

"Why?"

The question surprised her. "Well… I've already answered that."

Jimmy gave her a look. "I don't think your quote was part of a sonnet. And I've read every Shakespeare play the library downtown has! Where is that quote from?"

"Silly boy. 'Tricks' are for girls." Cindy smiled at his obvious frustration. She checked her watch. "I need to go home, but I'll be back tomorrow. I'll talk to your parents and send Goddard over. Maybe he'll make your search a little easier." Jimmy glared at her, looking like he was going to say something. She smiled at him. "Yeeeees?"

"You're mean."

She laughed. "See you tomorrow, Jimmy."

He smiled. "See you." The door shut, and Jimmy reached over to get his book when he heard the door open again. "Forget something?" he asked, turning back to the door. But it wasn't Cindy. "Do… do I know you?!"

"Hello, James."

…

Cindy could have sworn the man she passed in the hallway looked familiar, but she ignored her feeling. She turned left down another hallway and headed toward the elevators. Suddenly, a nurse rushed past her.

"Patient ten-twenty-four flat-lined!" she shouted, getting yet another nurse's attention.

"What? Conditions were stable!" another replied.

"It was sudden, like the chords were disconnected…" a third said as their voices faded down the hallway.

Cindy sent her sympathy to whomever patient ten-twenty-four was, glad that she was sure it wasn't Jimmy. The elevator dinged, and she stepped in.

…

Cindy waited for her mom outside the hospital's main entrance, singing softly to herself. "Did I drive you away? I know what you'll say, you say, 'Ohoo ohh… sing one you know.' But I promise you this… I'll always look out for you… yeah that's what I'll do…" She stopped. _What comes after that…?_ She shrugged, not remembering. It was then she saw her mother's car pull into the parking lot. Cindy waved to get her attention, and her mother pulled up to the curb.

Cindy climbed in. Her mother looked at her expectantly. "So? How is it looking now, Cindy dear?"

Cindy smiled. "I think… no, I know it's going to be okay." Cindy wasn't sure if she was trying still trying to convince herself.

Mrs. Vortex smiled. "Ah, good."

Cindy described Jimmy's reaction to the potential of the necklace to her mother during the trip home. By the time they reached the driveway, Mrs. Vortex was laughing with Cindy at the expressions on Jimmy's face she described. For the first time in a long time, though neither said it, they felt like they had a real connection.

As they got out of the car, Mrs. Vortex decided to push for a little more information. "So… you like this Jimmy?"

Cindy rolled her eyes. "Mom, he's been our neighbor for how many years now? And you still insist on putting a 'this' in front of this name. Like he's a ruffian or something."

Cindy's mother held a fist up to the clouds dramatically. "Ah, gods of language, smite me for saying such foul things!"

Cindy let out an exasperated sigh. "Moooooom! I didn't mean it like that."

Her mother chuckled to herself. She stepped up the front steps and stopped. "Oh, I almost forgot—but of course I didn't. Cindy, your father is asleep on the couch. And I need to go get some coffee from our favorite store downtown. I'll be back soon, but be sure not to wake your father."

Cindy nodded. Her mother returned to the car and Cindy waved her off. The door to the house was locked, and Cindy fumbled through her purse for her house key. "Did I forget it?" She dug deeper and let out a cry of triumph when she found it. She fit the key into the hole, heard the locks click, opened the door, and stepped inside.

As soon as she shut the door, she knew something was wrong.

The house was too quiet. But her dad _was_ asleep… She checked the living room, and sure enough, her father was snoring softly on the couch. Feeling slightly reassured, Cindy made her way to the stairs. Something creaked at the top, and her breath caught in her throat. There was no more sound.

"Skylar?" Cindy called quietly up the stairs. "Are you there?"

There was no answer, no whirring of robotic body parts. Nothing.

_I should wake up dad. I should wake up dad and have him come upstairs with me._ Even as she thought that, though, she didn't want to wake her dad up for nothing… It _was_ probably nothing, right? As slowly and quietly as she could, she crept up the stairs, one step at a time, trying hard to avoid the squeaky steps.

Though she tried to control it, her breath came out louder and louder. It seemed like forever before she reached the top of the steps. Everything was quiet, except for a faint noise that Cindy couldn't put a name to. The sound was coming from her room, and she moved as softly as she could down the hallway. Slowly, she peeked around the corner, holding her breath now.

Nothing. Her room was void of anyone. Skylar too, who should have been there. Her heart beat wildly, but she put a hand over her chest to steady her breathing.

She turned around… and bumped into someone.

She tried to scream but a hand flew over her mouth and it came out muffled. She looked up to see who her assailant was and almost immediately relaxed.

The hand left her mouth. "Didn't mean to scare you, there!"

"Mr. Corbet! Jeez, you scared me!"

He laughed, scratching the back of his head. "Yes, well, I didn't mean to sneak up on you."

Cindy shrugged, but paused in her thoughts. "But… if I may ask, what are you doing up here? Or, here in general?"

He smiled. "I came by to visit, of course!"

Cindy shook her head. "But… how did you get in? The door was locked until I came home… unless you were here before? But then my father would have been awake talking to you." The man said nothing. Cindy studied him and gasped when she noticed blood on his elbow. "Mr. Corbet, your elbow! What happened?" Still, the man said nothing. Then Cindy noticed something glittering in his hand. "That's…" Her eyes widened. "That's… my necklace! Mr. Corbet, what are you doing with my necklace?"

He smiled again. "I picked it up somewhere."

Cindy backed away. "Mr. Corbet?" He laughed and came forward. Cindy shook her head in panic as something registered. "Stay away!"

The man, the _short_ man, rolled his eyes. "You've got nothing to be afraid of. Come with me. You want to see your dying friend before he goes, don't you?"

"NO! What did you do to Jimmy?!" Then everything clicked. "It… it was you all along!"

Corbet laughed. "Bra-_vo_, Cindy. And I was waiting for you to figure that out."

Cindy backed away as far as she could until she met a wall. "No, NO!"

He laughed maniacally. "Come, dear." Holding out a hand, he moved closer still. "Come with me."

………

_Continued in chapter 10, Turn My World Upside-Down_


	10. Turn My World Upside Down

Howdy, all. I'm going to warn you off the bat, this chapter is a doozy in terms of being confusing. But if you read slowly, you should be able to get a good understanding of things.

By the by, this is a story, folks. You may feel compelled to complain about the science of it. But has the science in Jimmy Neutron _ever_ made sense? That was rhetorical, no need to answer. (I mean, come on, do you really think Jimmy's rocket would have hopes of clearing his lawn, let alone the atmosphere? So bear with me.)

Reviews! And thank you guys so much for all the support. It really makes writing these things fun. Yes, I said fun.

Readrbug21: I had a feeling you knew it was him. Uhh… As of now, I'm not really sure how many chapters are left… let's see… I know of at least two more, maybe three, but I doubt any more than that. Thanks for reviewing!

mrmuscle: Your questions shall be answered, milord; simply read on! Thanks for the review.

Noblesse Oblige: Haha, I'm honored as always. I'm glad the story is liked so much.

linklovesme: Intense? This is like… gripping. Actually, not so much. The climax has yet to come… wahahahahah! And of course you were trying to convince yourself… I mean, I'm the only one here who knows what's going to happen…

random.pen: Thanks kindly, Pen of Random. And you'll get your fluff, but I can't really spare much time for it, you know. I mean, there are lives at stake! Or should I say steak? Yum.

Logrus Mage: I have a feeling you might be very critical of the explanation I give… but you must forgive me for having fun with this one. This story is on par with Losing Control, which is my first successful story on this site. Is this one better? I'm not really sure. Thanks for the review!

starrlightstarbrite: Danke shöne, madam. I'd tell you suspense is my middle name, but it ain't. Hey, interesting tidbit; did you know that the word 'ain't' is actually proper English? Go figure.

snoopykid2991: I'm on it!

Lily Knotwise: I sent you a PM about Corbet. That should clear things up ). Thanks for the review!

Alrighty, all, here's the next installment. Hope you enjoy the read!

………

Chapter 10: Turn My World Upside-Down

Everything made sense… but at the same time, nothing made sense. Did Mr. Corbet dislike Jimmy? Did Mr. Corbet even _know_ Jimmy? But he had a Masters in robotics and mechanics, which explained the machine that attacked them earlier. He was short, which matched the description the doctor had given Jimmy _and_ the person Cindy saw with the remote control for the black machine.

But what was the motive?

Her hands were strapped by duct tape behind her back, and her eyes had been blindfolded. Mr. Corbet had moved her into some sort of vehicle, presumably his car, which he was now driving to some destination she was obviously not allowed to know.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked, looking in the direction she suspected he would be.

"Some place I can explain things to you nicely without the risk of your stupid father butting in. And of course, I'm sure you'll want to see Jimmy."

"You better not have hurt him!"

He laughed. "Not too badly, anyway."

Cindy glared, though she knew he couldn't see her eyes. "I don't understand this," she said, mostly to herself.

"We're here."

The car slowed, turned, and came to a stop. Cindy heard the driver's door open and close, then the door next to her open. She was gently lifted from the seat and set on ground, which was gravel, as far as she could tell. Then the blindfold was removed.

Cindy blinked, trying to adjust to the light and surroundings. They were at some abandoned, factory-like building. And judging by the length of the car ride, she suspected it was somewhere in the outskirts of Retroville. She looked to the man at her side and saw a distracted look on his face. It was the same sort of look her father had on all those years ago when they got into the biggest fight they had ever been in.

"Come along," he ordered, giving her a little nudge in the direction of the building. She marched forward, not really sure what to expect. Should she make a run for it? But what about Jimmy? And Mr. Corbet hadn't really hurt her at all. He was just… making her go somewhere she didn't want to go. She had loved Mr. Corbet; he had been a very, very big brother to her for such a long time. She just couldn't believe he was behind this.

Cindy stopped in her tracks and turned around. "I've done enough of what you said, so tell me. Explain yourself."

The man shook his head. "I only want to explain things once."

Cindy felt this was reasonable, and after giving the man a measuring look, she continued toward the building. They reached a large metal door just a few moments later.

The door was heavy, so Mr. Corbet helped her push it open. Inside was dark, but as she stepped in, Mr. Corbet flicked a switch somewhere and a few small lights came on. And then she saw Jimmy. He was bound to a chair, but awake. As far as she could tell, he wasn't wounded.

He looked up as they entered. "Cindy!"

Cindy ran to his side, forgetting about Mr. Corbet. "Jimmy! Are you hurt?"

The boy genius shook his head. "No, but I hurt him."

Cindy turned back to Mr. Corbet, who was taking off his jacket. Now Cindy saw that, yes, there was blood at his elbow, but the blood came from a gash near his shoulder. "I was able to injure him with a piece of plastic from the hospital bed," Jimmy explained quietly. The older man pulled out a first aid kit from a dusty shelf. Cindy glanced around the room. Whatever factory they were in, this appeared to be an old lounge of some sort, obviously out of use for years.

Mr. Corbet finished wrapping his shoulder and turned around, giving the two teens a wary look. Cindy grew impatient. "We're both together. Now you have some explaining to do."

The man scoffed. "You're in no position to order, Ms. Vortex." He paused. "But I do suppose you at least deserve a background." He returned the first aid kit to the shelf it came from before moving over to an out of shape stove and putting a kettle, already filled with water, on a burner. "It's quite simple," he said, looking at Jimmy now. "No necklace, no cure, no survival."

Jimmy shook his head, shifting uncomfortably in his tight restraints. "But I don't understand… I don't _know_ you! Only by name. Why would you want to do something like this?"

The man laughed with a hint of sarcasm. "You know something, son? This town…" He shook his head in what looked like disbelief. "This town, it's just so ridiculous!"

Jimmy and Cindy looked at each other. "What do you mean?" Cindy asked.

"_You_," Corbet started accusingly, pointing at Jimmy, "have been the cause of more destruction than all the demolition companies of the world. You've appeared in newspapers all over the country countless times for your so-called 'heroic deeds.' But what the simpletons here just don't realize is that, had you never existed, your heroism would never have been needed in the first place." He started pacing. "I mean, don't you see? You were the cause of every problem you fixed! It was you who attracted aliens to the Earth. It was _you_ who caused an ice age, you who created toys and gadgets that damaged more private property than a hurricane, you who ruined the future and past countless times, and _you_ who changed the way this town was supposed to be."

Cindy shook her head. "But you aren't saying the good things Jimmy did! Jimmy brought this town together! Jimmy taught us to work with one another and to put our heads together! He taught Retroville how to be itself! Without his… stupid genius," she said, for lack of a better word, "I wouldn't be who I am. No one here would be." Jimmy watched her defend him from behind, wondering what he had been ready to give up.

"That's it exactly!" Mr. Corbet shouted, seething now, bringing Jimmy back from his thoughts. "None of this is how it is supposed to be. None of this is."

"What are you talking about?" Jimmy asked, joining the conversation.

"The present isn't how it should be! Everything has changed, and it's because of you," he said harshly, pointing at Jimmy.

Jimmy shook his head. "But what did I do? Are you saying that I have in some way altered fate or destiny, or whatever you want to call it? That's unfeasible."

"Maybe," Mr. Corbet said, "but it's true."

Jimmy laughed at the idea. "For the sake of scientific argument, then, explain to me, how I can change what everything is supposed to be like."

"Very well," the older man replied, glaring at Jimmy. "Scientists, including myself, have recently been exploring the idea that at particular points in the universe, there are folds in space where time, light, and energy become one factor. If this is true, the amount of potential energy in the form of separate electrons, neutrons, and protons, is limitless. If that energy could be harnessed… but, with current technology, it is unthinkable. However, if it is true that such distortions in physics exist, it is theoretically possible that, should a human be able to survive in the dimension thus created by the fold, the factors that mold together in it can be controlled."

Cindy shook her head in awe. "You mean… one could control… reality?"

"Exactly."

"But that's impossible…" Jimmy said, although there was something strange in his voice, like he didn't really agree with what was coming from his own mouth.

"Don't play stupid!" Mr. Corbet shouted. "No human could survive in a world where there is both nothing and everything. Machines, however, super computers…"

Jimmy looked away, but Cindy shook her head. She crossed her arms. "A human having the ability to control anything… that is impossible."

Mr. Cortbet laughed. "Impossible? Cindy, dear, what do you think this necklace is?" He pulled the beautiful necklace from a pocket. In the slightly dim room, the necklace glowed with energy. "Didn't you notice? That car was driving straight for you, but in the blink of an eye, you were removed from its path. You were falling through the air with a severed dog's head. Even before its neck was cut, you were still thirty feet from the ground. Would a bush really break your fall? In fact, what do you think the present is?"

Cindy studied the space in front of her, trying so hard to think and not think at the same time. "I don't… understand…"

Mr. Corbet looked at Jimmy with hard eyes. "This boy, this mere human boy, gave up his chance to have everything he could ever want, more power and money and wealth and love—he could have altered human emotion, even your own!­—for you. He created technology hardly comprehensible to the robotic and computer masterminds of the world, so far beyond our age, that breeched the barrier of a universal fold that appeared in our solar system four and a half years ago. Why?"

"To… protect me…" Cindy answered. She was entirely stunned. So stunned that she couldn't even turn to look at Jimmy.

"Perfect," the man said, smiling in satisfaction. "A selfless act beyond words. But what really lies at the heart of this? Jimmy has made himself a factor of the universe. He is a fourth factor, with control over the other three. With such incomprehensible power, I'm surprised he was still sane. In fact, he was struggling. There was intense desire there to use the power he had discovered. So of course, when he contracted a terminal disease, he put up no effort to find the cure, much to his parents' intense displeasure." The man's eyes narrowed at Jimmy. "He was happy that he was going to die. He was happy, because then the burden would be gone. The burden of the power that was at your fingertips, Jimmy!"

Cindy was speechless.

The crazy man laughed. "But therein lies the irony of it all! As poor Jimmy was slowly dying, Cindy, your inner feelings began to panic. You became worried about him; you communicated your desire for his well-being, for his very existence. And suddenly, he didn't want to die. He wanted to be with you, the person he ended up killing himself for, slowly, at least. Because when he was with you, he knew he was using the power in his hands for a good purpose, and he had no desire to use it for anything else." The man shook his head. "When he was with you, he was _sane_."

"You've said _enough!_" Jimmy shouted from the chair he sat in, his eyes squeezed shut, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles were pure white. "How do you know all this?" His eyes were red when he opened them, looking not to Cindy, but to Corbet.

Mr. Corbet smiled. "Because I, too, am a factor." His eyes met Jimmy's. "I was a boy genius too, Mr. Neutron. I can't have someone else knowing how to access the fold in space. This is _my_ discovery."

Cindy growled, trying to get her questions out through the confusion in her mind. She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Then it wasn't you who tried to kill my dad?"

"Of course it was."

"But why?" she asked

The man's face twisted into agony. "Because he has something that James took away from me. My _future._ I made a time machine as a child too, Mr. Neutron!" he said, looking at Jimmy. Then he moved his glare to Cindy. "Your mother, she was supposed to marry _me_. You remember that time, three years ago, when I first came into your life? Your parents got into a fight about you, Cindy, though of course you thought it was a fight about something else. Your father said he was afraid you were given too much, that you were spoiled. Your mother argued that you were simply privileged, but your father was worried about the person you would become."

Cindy remembered the fight vividly. She remembered being unable to understand what they were fighting about.

"My car broke down in front of your house, just as I had seen in the time machine," Mr. Corbet continued. "And your mother, angry, was supposed to come outside and call a tow truck for me. We were supposed to fall in love! But Jimmy! He saw my car problem and _he_ fixed my car for me. That wasn't supposed to happen! And when your mother did come outside, angry as she was supposed to be, she saw Jimmy fixing my car and didn't think twice about it. And your meddling father came out after her. They made up, and they never were supposed to! Jimmy Neutron, this is _all your fault._"

Cindy turned to Jimmy. "You… changed that?"

Jimmy looked down angrily. "Of course I did! Your parents' divorce would have been the end of you!" He looked to Mr. Corbet. "I saw the future too, Corbet! You marrying her mother would have _destroyed_ Cindy!"

The man huffed angrily, the veins in his forehead looking ready to burst. "So what? I planned everything for the future, for _destiny_, just like it was supposed to be. But you interfered and ruined it for me! I'm ending your altering of space and time permanently. You have thirty-one hours before you fall into a coma. And not long after that, your body will cease all functions. When I come back twelve o' clock Thursday morning, you'll be out of my way, your lab will be at my disposal, and Cindy, your father will be gone and your mother will be mine. And when I do come back, I'm sorry, Cindy, dear, I've always seen you as my daughter, but now you know too much. Needless to say, you'll be joining Jimmy soon enough." He took the golden necklace from his pocket and walked across the room to a door that led into the actual factory. Lightly swinging the chain on his finger, he let it go flying into the other room. "Won't be needing this anymore, will you? And even if you do find it, by the time you do, it will be too late."

The whistle on the teapot slowly rose in volume, becoming a shrill scream in Cindy's ears. But Cindy wouldn't have been surprised if she was screaming too.

…

They were alone. Corbet had left the building, taking off their restraints, but locking the door to the outside. The other door, leading into the factory, was locked too. The only things in the room were a table and two chairs. Jimmy sat in one of the latter, resting his elbows on the table and cradling his head in his hands.

Cindy, still entirely stunned, watched Jimmy from where she swayed uneasily. Her mind was thinking a thousand things at once, and she was trying desperately to get everything straight.

Finally, one thought silenced the rest. _The longer you stay here, the closer Jimmy is to death. You're wasting time._ Reality slammed back into place, and Cindy let out a long breath… Had she been holding it in? She slowly dragged the other chair to the table, sitting next to Jimmy.

He looked up, waiting for her to say something. So she did. "I'm sorry."

Jimmy's face scrunched up at that, as though her words had slapped him. "You're… sorry?" he squeaked.

She nodded. "All this time, you've been going through something horrible. And I haven't really been able to do much to help."

Jimmy laughed harshly, shaking his head. "I don't believe this. Didn't you understand what he said?"

"That if we don't get that necklace back, and soon, you aren't going to make it very long," she answered. "And neither will I."

"Don't you understand the power in it? The power that was available to me? The power that I used…?"

Cindy heard a touch of hysteria in his voice, and realized that, now that the secret was out, Jimmy felt like he was going insane again. She brought her hands up, slowly, to hold one of his. "Listen to me," she ordered quietly. "That type of power shouldn't be available to any human being, and that includes you or me. And Mr. Corbet. Human minds aren't capable of using it. We can't change the past, now." She paused, bringing his hand to her cheek. It was hard and calloused from lab work. But it was gentle. Jimmy watched her curiously. "We need to focus on what's here and now. We need to save ourselves, and our families, and the rest of the world. You survived what could have taken you over. But Mr. Corbet, he was taken over by the idea, obviously. He wants power."

"What do _I_ want?"

Cindy stopped at his question. "Sometimes, I'm not sure."

Jimmy watched her, something in his eyes. He took control of the hand Cindy was holding and cradled her cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand. "Doubt thou the stars are fire," he whispered softly. "Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt… I love."

Cindy blinked in surprise. "You found it?"

"No, I improvised."

Cindy gave him a confused look, only slightly distracted by his hand. "What do you mean?"

"I've done more reading of Shakespeare than a lot of people. I know his style. And after reading the collection of books from the library, his style was brought to the front of my mind. I simply asked myself, what would Shakespeare put there? And that's what I came up with… I'm guessing it's right?"

Cindy shook her head. "You really are a genius."

"I'm starting to hate it," he replied riley.

"Well, I love it and wouldn't trade it for the world."

"Would you trade it for a box of chocolates?"

"Hmm… Yes, I might." She laughed at Jimmy's expression.

"Cindy."

"Mmm?"

He brought his other hand up to her cheek, tracing the outline of her chin. "I know what I want. I want to live. I don't want to leave."

Cindy's eyes saddened. "Is it only because of me?"

He shook his head. "No, though, well… But you have shown me what I would be missing. In these past few weeks, when I came home happier than when I left from spending time with you, my parents became so… I don't know, motivated. Like everything was normal. And I knew they would never be the same if I left them. I knew I wanted to be alive to experience more happy times with them and with my friends and with the world. I was so afraid of the power corrupting me." His eyes grew far away.

"But it didn't," Cindy murmured. "You did the right thing. You could have changed everything to your liking, but instead, you just… you wanted to protect me."

"I've always liked you!" he blurted, pulling his hands away and blushing deep crimson.

Cindy chuckled, taking his hands back in one of her own, turning his head to look at her with the other. "I've always wanted you to like me."

"R-Really?" He was far beyond embarrassed. "M-Me too." He was looking anywhere but her eyes. "I mean, you know, I've always wanted _you_ to like _me_, not me to like you… yeah…"

Cindy smirked to herself. Here sitting in front of her was the smartest man in the world when it came to science. But when it came to love, he was as lost as a child stranded in a zoo.

"It was always easier saying things around you when I would think about how you would never like me the way I liked you," he admitted sheepishly. "Because if I knew it was hopeless, I could just be your friend." He shifted uneasily. "But it was so hard being just your friend, because when you came into my lab and started to cry, I couldn't comfort you the way I wanted to. And when I wanted your comfort, I had to remind myself that you wouldn't want to comfort me." He fidgeted, very red.

Cindy could only wonder why he was telling her this. Did he believe differently now? Or did he want something else from her? "You are so wrong," she said quietly. He met her eyes, hopeful, confirming what he wanted. "Am I so selfish a person that I would ask for comfort from you and not expect to give it in return? Now that I know the truth behind the way you were acting, I wish you had come to me for comfort."

Jimmy shook his head. "But that's not the guy thing to do."

Cindy rolled her eyes. "Oh please. Guys are always so afraid of 'lowering their level.' " She gave Jimmy a look. "Don't be like Nick, controlled by what other people think and by what's 'cool' and what isn't. Be Jimmy, the Jimmy you used to be, the Jimmy you really are. The Jimmy I like." A smile blossomed on the boy's face, and Cindy couldn't help but laugh at his expression. "Don't take that the wrong way. I don't like you." Jimmy's face became crestfallen, and Cindy smiled. "No, sir, I don't like you. Get over it, because I actually—"

Suddenly, the two heard a car pull up the drive, gravel crunching beneath tires. Jimmy shook his head. "There's no way that's Corbet. It hasn't been the thirty-one hours he was talking about, let alone one."

A car door slammed, and they heard a faint call from outside. "_Cindy… Jimmy…_!"

Cindy strained to hear the voice. "That sounds like… my dad!"

Jimmy listened. "Yeah, it does… But how did he find us?" They listened. "Wait… is that… barking?"

Cindy gasped. "Skylar! She must have hidden herself when Corbet came into the house. And if she listened to our conversation here—"

"Right!" Jimmy interrupted. "She's been equipped with bugs and transmitters. If she followed you here, she could have heard our whole conversation!"

"And then she probably went back home to warn my dad before Corbet got there!"

There was a loud noise at the door, and a red laser cut seamlessly around the doorframe. Then the whole section of wall came down in a cloud of concrete and dust, and when the dust cleared, there stood Mr. Vortex, hair up in the air and panting hard, with not one, but two robotic dogs at his heels.

"Dad!"

"Hi there, honey, Jimmy," he said breathlessly. "You were late for dinner, so I came to crash your party."

"She'll be late for a lot more if we don't do something to fix things now," Jimmy chimed in.

"Alrighty then, kids. After you do a little explaining, it's time to get out the big guns."

Jimmy and Cindy looked at each other.

_What big guns?_

………

_Continued in chapter 11, The Big Guns Are Never Big Enough_

Also, if any of you are at all interested, I have an account, under the same name, at under which I just added a new story. It's a freestyle, part of a novel I'm hoping to write. If you like my writing here, feel free to check my story out. It's called "A Letter Home." Thanks for reading, everyone.


	11. The Big Guns Are Never Big Enough

Okay, guys. There could be a wee shock at the end of the chapter. But this is a story. And stories have endings, rest assured.

Reviews! Thank you guys SO MUCH for the support!

random.pen: Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed the explanation. Keep reading!

mrmuscle: Good for you! I know it was confusing. You have no idea how hard it was, because I have the idea perfectly clear in my head. But making sure I get every detail out on paper so that you guys understand too is quite difficult. Thanks for the review!

Logrus Mage: Thank you. And yes, a tad confusing, but this isn't the average JN story, haha. I feel somewhat silly writing this at my age, since my parents make fun of me for watching cartoons, but hey, I love it. So here I am.

acosta perez jose ramiro: I know JN is normally just a cartoon with mostly child-like worries, but I can't help but throw in more (or less) adult themed material in the form of morals and choices. Thanks for reading.

snoopykid2991: Haha, thanks. Next chapter comin' up.

Lily Knotwise: If you liked the JC moments in that chapter, you may like the ones in this chapter, haha. And glad I could clear up Mr. Corbet for you.

linklovesme: Glad you still love it. The big gun had a minor malfunction and… has ceased to function, I'm afraid.

robinandstarfire4ever: Have I mentioned big guns in another story? I can't remember. But thanks for reading my stuff again!

LadyFM: Haha, thanks! And yes, sometimes, Shakespeare can be confusing.

Onward.

………

Chapter 11: The Big Guns Are Never Big Enough

Goddard and Skylar, working as a team, were quickly able to cut through the locked door that led into the factory. With Mr. Vortex in the lead, the odd team marched into the dark factory, crunching over broken glass as they went.

"Goddard, are the lights working in here?" Jimmy asked his dog. The robotic hound performed an electrical wiring scan.

"Bark bark!"

Jimmy fumbled on the wall, smiling in satisfaction when his fingers flicked a switch. Above them, a long row of lights flickered on, followed by the row behind it, and the row behind that, all the way through the factory.

There must have been fifty rows of lights.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Mr. Vortex cried in dismay. "We have to find a necklace that could be _anywhere_ in here?"

Jimmy shook his head. "No, it isn't a heavy necklace. He couldn't have thrown it far. Probably…" he started, doing some calculations in his head, "a greatest distance of thirty feet from the door."

Cindy began sifting through a pile of broken glass. "What was this place?" She picked up a small shard of glass and laughed to herself. "Well, I don't believe it."

"What's that?" Jimmy asked, coming up from behind. Then he chuckled too. "We're in the old Purple Flurp factory!"

Mr. Vortex stopped looking through a collection of cans and turned toward Jimmy. "You mean the one they shut down thirty years ago?"

"The very same," Jimmy confirmed.

"But why was it shut down?" Cindy asked, walking around a pillar to look behind an old bottling machine.

"Who knows," Jimmy said, shrugging.

"Well, actually…" Mr Vortex picked up an old can and turned it around in his hands. "I was around when they did it. There were all sorts of rumors. But I think the definite cause was that there was some sort of metal problem. A compound in the machines was getting into the bottles, and someone got sick from it or went crazy from it. I think." He tapped his chin. "They investigated, and when the factory refused to shut down, authorities forced it to shut down. That's when they started making Purple Flurp in cans. But the canned ones just don't taste the same! I miss the old glass bottle taste." He tossed the can back into the pile.

"Ouch!" Jimmy muttered, pulling his finger away from the glass shard he had cut it on. "Goddard, do you have any band aids?" His dog made a low growling noise. "Darn." He ignored the stinging and kept searching.

"Found it!" Cindy cried from behind him, near where they had entered. "I knew I wasn't seeing things…"

"Good job, honey!" Mr. Vortex said.

Jimmy stepped cautiously up beside her. "Here? But why here? I thought he threw it in."

"He made it _look_ that way," Cindy said matter-of-factly, "but when I saw him let go, I could have sworn he still had it in his hand, and then it was gone. That's why I was searching back over here. We could have wasted our time searching this whole factory, and that's why he said we would be too late."

Mr. Vortex smiled at his daughter. "I always knew you were smart! Then let's not waste any more time. Ned is bound to come looking for me, and you too, and we should get out of here before that happens. But where should we go?"

"My lab," Jimmy answered, leading them back through the door into the room they had been imprisoned in. "There's no time to get this to a doctor who can analyze it. Since I'm out of the hospital, I can do it."

"But how are you going to mix the antibiotics?" Cindy asked worriedly, following him outside into the early evening.

"Everything can be synthesized in my lab. It will take some time, but it can be done."

"But what about Ned?" Mr. Vortex asked, getting into the driver's seat of his car. The two teens got into the back. "Won't he be coming after you?"

Cindy frowned. "I think you should be more worried about Mom, Dad. Although, I'm sure he won't hurt her."

Mr. Vortex shook his head. "I had no idea. Jimmy…"

Jimmy gulped. "If it's about what I did when Corbet's car broke down…"

"Well, yes, but… well, I mean to thank you, Jimmy. You saved my marriage, and my family. My wife is the second best thing that's happened to me."

Cindy blinked. "Second? What's the first?"

Mr. Vortex smiled from the driver's seat. "You are."

…

The lab was exactly as they had left it. Jimmy papers lay stacked on the table where Cindy had placed them. It was still a mess, but it seemed that Mr. Corbet had yet to pay it a visit.

Jimmy got to work immediately, analyzing a radiation sample from the necklace. Cindy watched him from the couch. They had convinced Mr. Vortex to fill the Neutrons in on everything that was going on. Cindy knew he would be back, but in the mean time, they were alone.

She watched the boy genius work from where she sat on the couch. His dexterity was graceful as he worked with the necklace. He carefully placed a vile of liquid into a machine. It whirred for a moment, then the vile popped out on a tray, and Jimmy wrote down some notes. He repeated the process several times, and Cindy became hypnotized by how quickly he worked and how efficient he was. Then a grin broke out on his face, waking Cindy from her stupor.

"Yes! I think it will work!" He took a fresh vile and inserted it into another machine. Then he took his sheet of notes and slipped it through a slot in the same machine. A low hum emitted from it. The boy genius stepped back, wringing his hands together and biting his lip. After just a few moments more, a little buzzer sounded. Jimmy paused… then jumped into the air, waving his arms and dancing for joy. Cindy couldn't help but laugh at the display. Jimmy ran over to her, grabbing her hands and pulling her up into his dance too. "It'll work, Cindy! I can be cured!" He was practically crying, but so was Cindy, and she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Congratulations, Sir Nerdtron. I'm so happy for you." He returned her hug tenfold.

"I couldn't have done it without you."

Cindy smiled into his chest.

"We aren't out of the water yet, I'm afraid. We have to wait for the machine to synthesize the antibiotics, and that takes time. It literally pulls apart and puts together atoms to make the right elements and compounds, and eventually the right medicine. But it should finish before tomorrow night."

"It will."

Jimmy laughed. "You sound so sure of yourself."

Cindy nodded. "I am. It has to finish. If it doesn't, I won't be able to make fun of you anymore."

"Excuse me, Vortex?" Jimmy started, pulling away a little and giving her a look. "You used to make fun of me for being short, but who's taller now? HMM?"

At that, Cindy playfully pushed Jimmy back. He stumbled, not expecting it, and fell onto the couch. But he pulled Cindy down with him, and she let out a shriek as she came down on top of him. "Not fair!" she cried, struggling to disentangle herself from him. He held her down on top of him by her wrists.

"All's fair in love and war, Vortex," he smirked, grunting when she elbowed him in the gut.

"You're so right!" Cindy cried, trying to reach his knee for a tickle attack. After several attempts, she was successful.

Jimmy howled in laughter. "No, no! Not there, aaaaaaaaaah!" Jimmy squirmed beneath her, trying to shake his leg loose, but Cindy refused to give up easily. They were panting hard when she finally stopped, but Jimmy still held her fast. "You… lose…" he panted, a smile plastered on his face.

Cindy's arm muscles were tired from holding herself away from Jimmy. She evilly decided to collapse on him, and he let out an "Ooof." She rested her head on his chest, trying to catch her breath so she could attempt to move. But a noise made her pause. It was his heartbeat.

_Bum bum… bum bum… bum bum…_

She smiled to herself. "I can hear your heart," she told him. To her satisfaction, the beat grew faster. Jimmy's hands slowly released her wrists, and he tentatively wrapped his arms around her waist. Cindy started at his touch, but relaxed into the new position. His heartbeat was rhythmic, like a lullaby, and she closed her eyes.

Jimmy reached a hand up to brush a lock of hair from her face. Her eyes fluttered open and met his. "Hi," she said.

He smiled. "Hi." He let his head fall back on the couch and let out a sigh. "This is so relaxing."

Cindy drew her head away from his chest and crawled up so that her head was just beneath his. "Shouldn't we be more worried about Corbet?"

Jimmy let his eyes gaze at his lab upside-down. "I don't feel like worrying right now. That's all I've been doing lately. Worrying. I'm so sick of it."

"Me too." She paused and gave him an appraising look. "I thought you get uncomfortable thinking of me as more than a friend."

He nodded. "I do."

"So then what's up with this?"

"I'm not thinking of you as more than a friend."

Cindy tried to hide her pout. "Oh."

He turned his head to meet her gaze. "I'm not thinking of you as just a friend either. I guess I never really noticed when I'm thinking the way I'm thinking now, but now I do."

Cindy shifted so that she was a little higher. "How _are_ you thinking of me, then?"

He struggled to put words to it. "I'm… I'm thinking of you… as Cindy. Right now, you're just Cindy."

Cindy smiled. "I only ever want to think of you as Jimmy." She leaned forward and felt his breath on her cheek. Their eyes met. "I don't want to lose this Jimmy I love."

His eyes softened. "Then I will always be here."

Cindy closed her eyes and let her face fall forward a little more…

"Open up!" someone shouted. There was banging at the door. "Open up before I blow this door to bits!"

Cindy pushed off of Jimmy. "It's Corbet! And we don't have any of those so called big guns!"

"Shoot." Jimmy threw himself of the couch, but he stumbled, nearly falling backward. Cindy had to reach forward and catch him. "You're mom's a pretty big gun… she might have… hurt him." He staggered sideways.

"Jimmy! Are you okay?"

He slowly lifted his hand, his whole arm shaking violently. He was looking at the tip of his finger where he had cut himself on glass. The tiny wound had reopened, and the blood that seeped out seemed to be stained yellow. "The poison…" he managed to get out. The banging at the door didn't stop. "It's beginning to cut off the oxygen… I've been moving too much…" He half collapsed, and Cindy strained hard to keep him from falling. She set him back down on the couch as gently as she could. He moaned quietly to himself, and Cindy began to panic.

Then the banging stopped. Cindy's breath came out loudly, and she tried to slow her breathing. She closed her eyes to think. _What would Jimmy do…? _Then she remembered. She ran to Jimmy's computer, looking for anything security related. She found her answer in a keypad on the console. It was the security activation, but it required a code.

Rolling her eyes, Cindy typed in the one thing she knew to be the code for most of Jimmy's computer passwords. _Betty Quinlin._

"Access granted," spoke VOX. "Initiating in one minute."

Cindy dashed away from the computer, grabbing her necklace and putting it in her pocket. She pulled Jimmy up from the couch and hauled him toward the door. The door was hitched from the inside, and she opened the lock with an elbow and kicked the door open. The door shut behind her automatically, and the security system panel just outside the door flickered on.

She huffed and puffed, setting Jimmy down on the front steps of his home. And when she turned around, there was Corbet, a nasty looking gash in his head. Cindy glared at him. "You can try your hardest to get into the lab, but the security system's set. You won't be able to get inside."

The man looked at her calmly. "I already got what I needed from Jimmy's lab before you escaped. I was discreet." He pointed to the gash on his forehead. "Then I went to your mother. But she wouldn't comply with my wishes. She kept saying she was too in love with your father."

Cindy smirked in satisfaction. "That's what you get."

He shrugged. "I suppose. So I killed her."

Cindy's brain froze. "…what?"

Corbet stretched lazily. "If she wasn't going to do what I wanted her to, then she's useless. I'm going to make destiny come true, no matter what you try. I'm one step away from controlling reality. Once I do, I'll set everything the way it should be. One way or another, the future will be as it should."

He turned and left down the street. Cindy swayed where she stood. _Mom… no…_

A hand shakily moved up to her chest as the tears slipped down her face. The necklace hummed and vibrated from her pocket, but it could only change _her_ reality… not her mother's.

Jimmy slowly pulled himself to his feet behind her. "One way… or another, Cindy… we will change things… back to the way they were. We'll… get your… mom back…"

Cindy's lower lip trembled. "And then we are no better than he."

Jimmy grunted, looking at her shaking back. "He doesn't… realize what… destiny really is. Destiny is what is. But… no one ever said… that it couldn't be changed. We need… to do what's right."

Cindy turned around, trying hard to ignore the urge to scream. "What _is_ right?"

Jimmy looked down. "I'm sorry, Cindy. I don't know."

………

_Continued in chapter 12, Dead or Alive, We'll Still Try_


	12. Dead or Alive, We’ll Still Try

Okay, so my prediction as to how much longer this story will last… I'm thinking two more chapters, at max three. Call it fifteen in total to be safe. I don't think I can drag it out any longer, haha.

Review responses! You guys are amazing, thanks for the kind remarks.

robinandstarfire4ever: Haha, sure thing.

mrmuscle: Thanks for reviewing.

random.pen: If you're worried about what's going to happen next, then I'm doing my job.

snoopykid2991: Will do.

Net: Thanks kindly.

acosta perez jose ramiro: Corbet is a butt. A really big and ugly and jerky butt. But all butts are bound to get kicked eventually… even if the kicker goes down with 'em… how's that for foreshadowing?

dAnnYsGiRl777: Thanks! Here's your update.

linklovesme: I hate it when I get songs stuck it my head. Especially when I'm trying to sleep. Argh!

Noblesse Oblige: I left the link for it in the last chapter. But go to and look for my pen name there. It's the only story I've got there. And it's somewhat true, somewhat. Anyway, it'll be much harder to update that story, but I'll be trying hard. Thanks for all of your support!

LadyFM: Glad this is your favorite, and I selfishly hope it stays that way, haha.

Here you are, ladies and gents.

………

Chapter 12: Dead or Alive, We'll Still Try

Cindy could no long support her legs. When they fell from beneath her, she made no move to catch herself, even break her fall. Jimmy watched her crumple to the ground, his heart in his throat, as silent sobs wracked her body.

He felt faint, but he knew passing out now would do no one good. He had to hold on until the antibiotics were ready. He had to help Cindy stop Corbet, and set things straight.

"Cindy," he murmured quietly. She didn't respond. But her back had stopped shaking. "Cindy, you'll get your mom back. I… I promise. I know this is hard, but you need to pretend like she's still here, like everything's okay, because it will be. Right now, we need to stop Corbet from destroying reality."

A shaky sigh escaped Cindy. "If… If we let him do what he wants to do," she said at almost a whisper, speaking very slowly, "then… Mom will be back."

Jimmy frowned. "Yes… you're correct. But you would be miserable. Corbet would be your stepfather. You…" He hesitated. "Well, you would drop out of high school."

Cindy's head lifted. "Yeah? What other horrible things was I supposed to do?"

Jimmy grimaced at her tone, but Cindy waited patiently for her question to be answered. He sighed. "You… well, Nick gets you pregnant."

Cindy seemed unphased. "And?"

The boy genius scratched his head. "You're so worried about what your father, the only family you talk to, will think that you run away with Nick and get married to cover everything up. As soon as you have the child, he disappears." Jimmy paused. "You…" A pained expression crossed his face.

"I what?" When Jimmy didn't respond, Cindy turned her head to look at him with one eye. She was smiling, but Jimmy could tell it was completely sarcastic. "Come on, Jimmy. I want to know what was _so_ horrible about my future that you had to change it."

Jimmy looked down the street in the direction Corbet had gone, unable to meet her eyes. "You come to me with your baby girl when we're both in our late twenties. You drop in on my life, my wife and kids, you who I won't have seen for nearly ten years, visit for an hour, and ask me to babysit him. While you 'take care of some things.' "

Cindy looked interested now, a forgotten tear rolling down her cheek. "What things?"

Jimmy shook angrily. "You go to confront Nick. And he beats you. Within an inch of your life. And when I _finally_ put things together, rocking your baby to sleep that night, when I _finally_ understand you, I come to find you… and I hold your hand and I can't stop the bleeding…" He looked like he was about to cry, but Cindy knew he would never let himself. Slowly, he continued. "I was supposed to be the smartest man in the world, and I couldn't even save you." He looked up at the sky now, where hundreds of stars shone brightly, reflecting off of his glossy blue eyes. "You tell me you're sorry, that I should tell everyone who knew you that you are sorry that you distorted your own life and changed there's. You tell me you always loved me and that your choices messed up your chances to get to know me the way you wanted to." To Cindy's complete shock, one tear did emerge from his eye, sliding down his face and clinging to the tip of his chin. "A-And the moment before you die, you tell me, 'Take care of my baby. Take care of my father. Save my mother from that man.' Your eyes shut, but you still keep talking." He shook violently, his fist clenched as tightly as his eyes. "The last thing you say…" His voice was a barely audible whisper. "The last thing… 'I wish you could make this right, Jimmy.' "

Things clicked for Cindy. She turned her whole body around to look at him with both eyes, an astonished look on her face. "You never _were_ going to control that thing in our solar system. You would have figured out how, but you never were going to pursue any actual inventions." Cindy shook her head in disbelief. "And then you saw the future and heard my dying wish. But why did you need to alter reality? Why couldn't you have just known where to be and when to be there to change things?"

Jimmy had turned completely away. "The future… has a way of making itself come true, no matter what you do or try. You see, the future already knew that I was going to design a time machine. The future that I saw through the time machine was going to come true, even though I had seen the future and would ultimately try and change things. Even if I had tried to plan on being in the right place at the right time to fix Corbet's car, something would have happened to make that impossible."

"But then… how did you break away from the path that the future was making to become capable of altering reality?"

Jimmy tried to put his memories into words. "It took a lot of work. For example, if it was a Monday, I would watch everything that was supposed to happen on Tuesday. And then when that Tuesday actually came, I would do everything as differently as I could from the future I had seen. And on Wednesday, I would repeat the process. The future is hard to rewrite, but like mankind, it is imperfect. Once you alter your future to a certain degree, it can no longer predict what will happen to you." He turned around to look at Cindy. "Every time I did that, the future I saw in my time machine became foggier and foggier. And finally, after a month, it went black. I had removed myself from the path. And at that point, I got to work altering two nanobots to control the factors within the physical universe. It was only after I perfected that that I could fix Corbet's car and create your necklace."

Cindy's vision blurred. "You literally took your destiny into your hands…" New tears formed, following the paths of the old. "You changed your good life, with your wife and kids, your happy family and successful job, all that because I would make stupid choices." She held up her hands and studied them. Her pink nail polish was finally wearing off. Her fingers splayed and relaxed, splayed and relaxed. A sob clogged her throat. "You… you could have ignored what you saw in the machine, you could have let me ruin my own life and lived your future happily."

Jimmy stepped closer and knelt by her. "You're wrong. That future would not have been happy for me." His words passed idle ears.

"I've… I've ruined your everything."

"No!" Jimmy shouted, taking one of her hands into his own. "How could you ruin my everything… when… when you _are_ my everything?"

She looked up to meet his eyes, but her tears blurred her vision. She hiccupped, reaching her other hand out for him. He saw it and gently held it. Cindy collapsed into his chest, her sobs ringing out into the neighborhood.

"I want my mom back," she wept, her voice muffled by his shirt.

"Don't worry," Jimmy soothed, wrapping his arms around her protectively. "We'll get her back. Anyone Corbet takes, we'll get them back. You and I together."

…

Jimmy fumbled through papers in his lab. "Damn it, he took my research, all of it."

Cindy played with her necklace absently on the couch. "But research didn't make it possible to communicate with the nanobots. A machine you made did that. Right?"

"The machine I used required a huge amount of mercury. I don't know where I can find a large enough source before it's too late. If I can find a certain piece of my research, I might be able to devise schematics for a new machine that doesn't require mercury to function."

"If you have to do that, so does Corbet. What's he doing to get control of your nanobots?"

"Well," Jimmy grumbled, throwing papers over his shoulder, "I would assume he's using my machine, since that's missing too."

"Hoh boy…" Cindy sighed, rolling her eyes. "We're toast."

"Not necessarily." Jimmy looked up from the pile of paper he was ripping apart. "We have two options. We either build another machine before Corbet gets my machine working…"

"Or?" Cindy pressed, leaning toward him.

"Or… or we find him, confront him, and stop him before he uses the one he stole. Right now he's only human, and he technically will still be human in the reality he recreates. Actually, if we fail now, we might be able to do something in the new reality he creates."

"That's assuming our memories of this reality still exist in that one."

Jimmy groaned. "You're right. Then let's assume that we've got one shot. What do we do?"

Cindy opened her mouth to talk, but someone knocked on the lab door. "Jimmy? Cindy, honey?"

"It's my dad," Cindy murmured, getting up to open the door.

Her dad stepped in, heaving a sigh. "Well, I've explained everything to you parents, Jimmy, and we've called the police. They didn't believe our story at first, but we've convinced them. They're out searching every corner of Retroville for him." He turned to Cindy. "I'm about to go check on your mother and go to bed. She's been alone all this time, I just want to be sure she's alright. There's also the chance that Corbet is with her." Cindy and Jimmy looked at each other, then back to Mr. Vortex. He raised an eyebrow. "Is something the matter?"

"Um, Dad… Mom is… she's…" she started, trailing off and looking to Jimmy for support.

"Mr. Vortex, your wife has been taken into the custody of the police, just to keep her safe. They said no one is to visit her, lest you lead Corbet to her. It's just a safety thing."

Mr. Vortex blinked. "Oh. Well, in that case, I'll just head home—"

"No!" both Jimmy and Cindy cried at the same time.

Mr. Vortex gave them suspicious looks. "What's wrong with you two?"

"I want you to stay with my parents," Jimmy said. "Don't go home. Okay?"

"Whyever not?" The older man shook his head. "Are you worried Corbet is going to be there?"

"Yes," Cindy said, praying her dad would buy their story. "The police don't want you going there. It's too dangerous. Just stay with Mrs. and Mr. Neutron for now."

He glanced back and forth between Cindy and Jimmy. "You two are hiding something… but I'm sure you've a good reason. Alright, I'll be with Judy and Hugh if you guys need anything." He turned to leave.

"Actually," Jimmy started, "could you send Skylar over here? And if anything happens, tell Goddard to send us whatever message you need to send."

"Sure thing, Jimmy." He left, the door swinging shut behind him.

Cindy huffed, her back to Jimmy. "Why wasn't it a good idea to tell him about my mom?"

Jimmy returned to his papers. "Because. If we're going to change everything, which we are, there's no point putting him through that grief. We went to look for her, and we found her. Don't make me remind you how you reacted. We don't need to put your dad through that."

"Oh." She turned back toward Jimmy and wandered to the couch. "I wish Corbet had been that nice." She flung herself down, letting out a sigh. "Where's he going to get all that metal, anyway?"

Jimmy shrugged. Then suddenly, his head snapped up. "Think… think… think…" he murmured, his eyes shut in concentration.

Cindy raised an eyebrow. _A brain blast? It's been forever since I've seen one of those._

"Brain blast!" Jimmy shouted. As he spoke, Skylar waddled into the room through some doggy door at the front. "Skylar, good timing. Come here."

The puppy barked and trotted to where Jimmy stood. Cindy watched amusedly. "What are you doing?"

"Skylar, scan my finger, this cut, for traces of mercury element."

The puppy barked and complied, a red beam emitting from an eye. Moments later, a screen popped out with the results.

"I knew it!" Jimmy cried excitedly.

Cindy shook her head. "Why is there mercury on your finger?"

Jimmy threw the papers he had been looking through into a pile on the floor and dashed over to a computer console. "Your dad said that the old Purple Flurp factory had been shut down because it was 'making people crazy.' The reason is mercury. During those days, they used mercury to treat the glass in bottles. They were tiny amounts, but if you drank enough Purple Flurp, you'd be just like a mad-hatter… without the hat. When I cut myself on the glass shard, there was a trace amount of mercury that got onto my finger."

Cindy jumped up from the couch. "Corbet had this whole thing planned!"

"He did. He's at the factory. There's still time, but we have to hurry. I knew it was strange that there were fresh _cans_ of Purple Flurp in a glass bottle factory. That place must be his sanctuary. If he melts down the glass, he's got enough mercury to change reality for a lifetime. He took my research, but not my memory. I still know how to use the machine, and he doesn't. He needs time to figure that out. And we aren't going to give it to him."

"What are we waiting for, then? Let's go!" Cindy cried, hopping off the couch. She took Jimmy's hand, pulling him outside with her. Skylar barked happily behind them. As the door closed, the machine making the antibiotics still beeped and whirred. The countdown to completion on the red display of the machine was twenty-three hours and ten minutes.

When Jimmy glanced at his watch before climbing into the hover car, it was 1:30 that Wednesday morning. He gulped almost inaudibly.

_There's still time… there's still time_…

………

_Continued in chapter 13, The Bounds of Time, Space, and Love_


	13. The Bounds of Time, Space, and Love

Okay, sorry folks. _Two_ more chapters after this one. I think. I'm not trying to drag it out, it's just that I can only fit so much in one chapter with this kind of story. At any rate, thank you all for your patience. I hope this story is worth the wait.

And once more, thank you guys so much for the reviews!

acosta perez jose ramiro: Yep.

Logrus Mage: Why thank you. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

linklovesme: Yep, he got a brain blast. But will it solve the problem this time?

LadyFM: Yeah, I'm all about confusing… sorry for the confusion! Glad you got it in the end.

random.pen: Well then gee, don't go reading fast on me! Good stories take longer to be read… or so I'm saying, haha. Thanks for the review!

robinandstarfire4ever: Haha, why Skylar? Her character isn't completely stressed in this story, except that she has a good sense of humor. Anyway, thanks for reading.

Tari Sirfalas: Why thank you! Hope you'll enjoy.

i l u v r a e: I wouldn't call it pointless, because it did make me want to write this faster. Thanks for the review. And I tried to make it very un-obvious that it was Corbet. On purpose, of course.

mrmuscle: Updating as soon as you read a little further, haha.

Readrbug21: I was just lucky. Usually there would be a plot hole by now, but weee, there isn't! I've been trying hard to make sure everything makes sense. Thanks for the review! And don't worry about not reviewing. I just hope you like the story.

And away we go. No hurting me at the end of the chapter.

………

Chapter 13: The Bounds of Time, Space, and Love

The only light came from street lamps and the full moon that gazed over the town. Everyone in Retroville was dead to the world, it seemed, on this peaceful, summery night. There was no noise save for the hover car's hushed engine.

Jimmy envied those who slept peacefully in their beds. The freedom of sleep, the limitlessness of dreams, the release of all worries, pains, fears. Jimmy wished more than anything to be a part of that. He was so tired, so exhausted, not only physically, but his mind, too, was worn out. To crawl into his own bed and fall into sleep's embrace was all he wanted.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Cindy, gazing absently toward the horizon over the edge of the hovercraft. How, he asked himself, could sleep be more welcome than being with her? She who stayed by his side all along, waiting for an opportunity to help? He chastised himself. She told him to make things right. And that was exactly what he was going to do, no matter what.

The blonde lifted a hand to her bangs to brush them from her eyes. She looked so peaceful, Jimmy thought. _She looks the way I wish I felt_. Jimmy turned his attention back to where he was going. They would be at the factory soon. What would happen there, he didn't know. But he had a horrible feeling. His thoughts lead him to what Cindy had said.

_You changed your good life, with your wife and kids, your happy family and successful job, all that because I would make stupid choices._

The boy frowned to himself. _I made the decision to change things as a young boy, not an adult,_ he thought. _If the Jimmy with his wife and kids had made the decision… where would I be now?_ Jimmy shook his head to clear his thoughts. _Darn it, what's right? What would Einstein do? _Jimmy rolled his eyes. _But he was never a family man._

His conflicting thoughts began to clog his head. _Gaah… what's right?_

_Jimmy. Jimmy._ "Jimmy!"

Jimmy snapped to attention, glancing at Cindy before looking back to the path ahead. "What is it?"

"You kept shaking your head. I thought you were fainting or something."

He sighed. "No. Just thinking."

"Oh," she responded. Then she pointed toward the horizon. "There it is."

The old Purple Flurp factory grew from a tiny marking in the distance to the large building that it was. A flickering orange glow lit the broken windows.

"He's there," Jimmy confirmed, climbing out of the hovercraft just as it touched the ground. "We need to sneak in and do some reconnaissance work."

Cindy snorted. "Sounds like a military operation."

"Might as well be."

The two silently entered the building. The first room was dark and empty. Jimmy pointed out the teakettle from their last visit. The stove was on, and the teakettle was just starting to steam.

Together they crept toward the door that led to the factory. Jimmy flattened himself against the wall next to the door, which was slightly ajar, and leaned to his side to peek through. There was a large, iridescent light coming from what Jimmy suspected was a fire. "Corbet is melting the glass," he whispered to Cindy. "That means he doesn't have enough mercury yet." He moved away from the opening.

"So what now?" Cindy murmured. "We just… charge in there?"

Jimmy licked his lips. "We need to try and steal my machine back. No machine, no altering of reality, at least for a while."

Cindy looked back toward the teakettle. "That's going to be going off soon. He'll have to come in here and make his tea—"

Just as Cindy finished her sentence, the door to the factory was thrown open. Corbet walked right past the two teens. "Damn tea ain't done yet," he muttered, pulling a lone coffee mug from a shelf.

Without delay, Jimmy grabbed Cindy's wrist and tugged her into the next room. "Hurry. We only have until he's done making his tea," he said quietly. They dashed across the room to where a fire pit burned brightly at its center. The machine they had come for was off to the side, away from the flame. Jimmy had to suppress a whistle. "This guy is good. He has a gas exhaust pipe hooked up there. He's melting the glass, but this flame isn't hot enough to turn the glass into a gas. The mercury, on the other hand, gets warmer than the glass because of the glass acting as an insulator. The mercury becomes a gas and rises up. He collects it through that exhaust pipe." Jimmy shook his head. "Ingenious."

"Isn't it?" someone said.

Jimmy and Cindy turned around. "Corbet!"

He held a steaming glass of tea up for them to examine. "If it's steaming, it's boiling. You don't always have to wait for the whistle. I'm disappointed in you, Mr. Neutron, you should have known you would have less time than what you thought."

Jimmy turned toward the man, putting himself in front of Cindy. "What you're trying to do is ludicrous. You're crazy."

"Then you are too, James." He took a sip from his tea. "I'm no worse than you."

"Why can't things continue as they are?"

Corbet laughed. "My life was perfect. So was yours. I don't see why you went and changed things."

"Cindy's life wasn't perfect."

"So? She isn't you. Why does she matter?"

Jimmy growled. "How can you be so heartless?"

"Oh, are we playing the question game?"

"Stop fooling around!" Jimmy snapped. He looked toward his machine. "I'm taking back my property. Let's face it, Corbet, if you had been smart enough to make this, we wouldn't be in this situation."

Now Corbet's expression turned to one of anger. "I never had a _need_ for it, Neutron, I was planning to let fate guide my life instead of lighting my own way."

Jimmy shrugged haughtily. "Then you're just as much a coward as the next guy."

Something inside Corbet snapped. His eye twitched. "I'm no coward." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small handgun. Jimmy gulped. Corbet lifted it, aiming straight for Jimmy's chest. "This is how Cindy's mother met her fate in this reality, and this is how you will meet your own as well. Your disease is taking its sweet time, and I am sick of waiting."

Cindy's heart pounded hard. _No… this can't be happening…_

Jimmy stood his ground. "You can't win this, Corbet. You're a sick man. A selfish and disgusting man."

_No!_ Cindy's mind screamed. But she couldn't force the words out of her mouth.

Corbet smiled. "Fair enough." He moved his finger over the trigger.

Cindy couldn't control her mouth, but she could control her body. She stumbled around Jimmy, standing in front of him, her back toward Corbet. Jimmy's expression was horrified as she reached up and grabbed his shirt just as the shot rang out.

Cindy felt nothing, but she knew why. She opened her eyes to find herself staring at a factory machine instead of Jimmy's face. The fabric of Jimmy's shirt she had grabbed was caught in her hand, torn from his body. Turning slowly, she forced herself to look to where Jimmy still stood, ten feet away. The necklace had done its job and moved her out of harm's way. But it did nothing for Jimmy. His eyes rolled as he swayed. Cindy cried out, rushing toward him. When he fell backward, she slid beneath him to catch him.

"Jimmy! Jimmy, wake up, stay with me, Jimmy!" She shook him. "JIMMY!" She let out a sob. "Don't leave me…"

She could only see the whites of his eyes. His body convulsed in pain. "Cindy…" he whispered, her name half gurgled in the blood running from his mouth. It dribbled down his chin and onto her pants. He lifted a hand as if to touch her cheek, but it dropped to the floor. And then he stopped moving completely.

Cindy clutched his body close to hers. "No no no no no no…" she moaned. "Why is this happening?" Tears spilled down her cheeks. "Jimmy, why did you…" Suddenly, anger pulsed through her. All she wanted was revenge. She wanted something to take away the pain in her chest. She shakily stood, turning toward Corbet. "How…" she started, trying to find her voice, "How COULD YOU?"

The crazy man laughed. "That necklace. A savior and a curse. It protects you even if you don't want to be protected. What a shame."

Cindy felt more alone than ever before. The pain in her chest was unbearable. She wanted to explode, she wanted the pain to go away. _Jimmy…_

Corbet's amusement turned fast to irritation. "You're a bother. If I change things back to the way they're supposed to be, not only will your mother be back, but James will be too. Help me instead of fighting what will happen regardless of anything you do."

Cindy shook her head. "No." She shook her head again. "No, no, never. I'll never help you."

"Then we'll end things." Corbet approached her slowly.

Cindy's legs froze underneath her. _No… move… MOVE!_ But no matter what she did, her legs wouldn't budge. Corbet still held the gun in his hand. But he lifted his free hand out toward her. Cindy couldn't move. He reached into her pocket, removing the necklace slowly.

"What an annoying trinket your friend made." Without another thought, he threw the necklace onto the floor. Then he raised his foot and crushed the teardrop at its base.

Cindy couldn't speak, move, or think clearly. But she could watch. From beneath Corbet's foot came a green-tinted cloud of gas. Rather than rising to the ceiling, it wafted around the blonde like a veil of fog. It filled her lungs, her throat; she couldn't breathe. Corbet seemed to ignore it.

"Now that that nuisance is gone, I shall bid you adieu, Cindy. I'll see you in another reality." He smiled what looked like a genuine goodbye. And then he lifted his gun right to her chest.

_Jimmy…_

Pain exploded in her lungs and she felt like the world was surrounding her, crushing her. There was nothing to breathe. She opened her mouth and tried to bring the air in, but no air would come. She was drowning, drowning in herself.

And then, she felt like she was moving. The pain, and any other feelings, vanished. She could only feel the sensation of going from one place to another. And when she stopped moving, she opened her eyes and saw… nothing.

It was indescribable. There were no colors, nor whites or blacks. Just… nothing.

Something clicked both in her head and around her. And then things made sense. She knew exactly where she was. She was in the fold, where the three factors in space met. The nanobots seemed to be connecting her to the three factors like translators. They posed a request.

_State the desire_.

Cindy tried to focus her thoughts. She wondered how she was where she was. And the answer came. Everything made sense. She understood precisely how the necklace worked. The chain and teardrop worked together. The teardrop was the powerhouse that provided the energy. The light that was emitted from the word-like etches in the chain was like a scanner. The chain identified everything around her, predicted which of those things, if any, could be hazardous, and decided what to do about them. The decision would be sent through a signal to the nanobots in the fold in space, who would then adjust reality to execute the change.

Corbet had crushed the power supply, but the chain was still in working order. It identified the lack of power and sent a signal to the nanobots. But the nanobots no longer had the local power source to initiate a change. So a script prewritten in their system commanded that they momentarily distort reality to bring the subject into a completely protected area, so that the subject could write a solution into the system. Cindy was the subject. She, or at least her mind, was floating inside the very point where the three factors of space collided.

_State the desire,_ the nanobots repeated.

Cindy's mind overflowed. She realized everything was at her disposal. She could do whatever she wanted to. She could make herself immortal. She could rule over the whole of the universe here, learn all the information she could ever want to know. Everything was hers.

And she wanted out.

_State the desire_.

Cindy mentally shook her head. She couldn't make this decision on her own. She needed help. She needed… _Jimmy._ _Take me to Jimmy._

…

The blonde opened her eyes and took a deep breath. She looked up to see a peaceful, cloudy sky. To her left was her house. To her right was the Neutrons'. She was standing in the center of the road. No one was there. Just her. The only thing she could hear was her breath and the small breeze that moved her hair. She looked back and forth between the Neutrons' and her own home before deciding to go home.

But after one step, she remembered she had something to do and turned around, heading back toward her neighbor's home. As soon as she stepped on their front walk, she saw Jimmy, sitting on his front steps. She became aware of faint jazz music playing in the background.

Jimmy looked up as she approached and smiled a hello. He patted the step next to him, and Cindy sat.

"What are you doing here?" Cindy asked him, folding her arms over her knees.

Jimmy shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just here. What about you?"

Cindy paused. "I'm not sure either. I'm supposed to be doing something."

"Really?" Jimmy asked. "Me too." No one said anything for a while. "This music is nice."

Cindy nodded. "Yes, it is."

"I've always liked jazz," Jimmy continued. "It's one of the only styles of music that can display such a wide variety of emotions. Love, sorrow, anger, happiness, hope, excitement, calm, there's all sorts of jazz for every emotion."

Cindy nodded in agreement. "I wonder why it's playing. It only started just now."

"Well, I've been here for a long time. Or it's felt like a long time. And the music has been playing for the whole time I've been sitting here."

Cindy tugged at a lock of hair. "I came here to do something…" she muttered.

Jimmy looked at her. "I feel like I need to be doing something. But I don't know what. And staying here is nice."

_Leave,_ something ordered Cindy. "We should leave here," Cindy said.

Jimmy cocked his head. "Something inside me is telling me the same. But everything here is peaceful."

"Peaceful," Cindy said, "because there are no worries." _That's right,_ the something said. _No worries, but only because nothing here is real._ Cindy rubbed her ear. _Leave,_ it ordered.

Jimmy muttered strangely. "Something is talking to me. Telling me to leave. That we have something important to do."

"Me too," Cindy said. "But… it's so nice here. Do you want to just… stay?"

Jimmy seemed to struggle. "I don't know." He leaned back. "This music is nice," he said.

_No,_ the something said urgently to Cindy. _You can't stay. If you stay, everything will be lost._ "What will be lost?" Cindy asked herself.

Jimmy seemed to misunderstand what she said. "Will I lose you?" he asked. "I don't want to lose you."

"I don't want to lose you, either," Cindy said, smiling at him. _If you stay here, time will run out. Reality will change._ "Reality…" Cindy murmured.

"Reality? What _is_ reality?" Jimmy asked.

Cindy thought hard. "I… don't think this is reality," she said slowly.

"We _should_ be in reality. If this isn't reality, then we should leave," Jimmy decided, standing up and walking toward the road. Cindy got up and scurried after him.

"How?" she asked when she had caught up.

They walked down the road. But as soon as they passed the edge of their properties, the road, which had appeared to continue far into the distance, simply ended at a cliff. The two looked over the edge into a sea of white.

"How do we leave?" Jimmy asked, repeating Cindy's question.

Cindy studied the edge. "We jump," she said.

Jimmy stared at her. "We… jump? But we'll fall."

"Onto what?"

Jimmy looked over the edge. "I don't know. Nothing. We'll fall onto nothing."

"This isn't reality," Cindy said. "Or, this isn't our reality. We need to fall out of this one and into our own."

"Okay," Jimmy said. He held out his hand, and she took it. "Together now. We'll do this together."

A sudden barrage of memories attacked Cindy. _You and I together._ She held his hand tightly. And they jumped.

………

_Continued in chapter 14, It May Be Wrong… But We Want it Anyway!_


	14. It May Be Wrong… But We Want it Anyway!

Hello, everyone. Pardon my French, but school is a bitch.

This chapter should be the second to last chapter… meaning chapter 15 would be the last one. BUT, I might feel the need to throw in another chapter after that. I'll see how the next chapter rolls out.

Thanks one and all for the tremendous support.

linklovesme: I won't be saying anything about the ending. But Corbet sure is a butt. Glad there's no one out there like him. But let me ask you this. If you were cheated out of your fate, what would you want?

acosta perez jose ramiro: Thanks a bunch. I'm hoping this chapter will strike a few chords.

mrmuscle: The last chapter was about as confusing as it would get! But everything should be all right in this chapter for yah.

LadyFM: Well, I'm glad I can make you spaz out your love for my story! It does an author good to have a good fan!

Logrus Mage: You're lucky I'm not as offended as I actually am… yeah, that's right, you heard me, follow THAT logic.

random.pen: Haha, nice pun. You're so… dare I say it… punny! HAHAHAH! … I'm alright, s'all good here.

Ashley-Robbin: Look no further for that next chapter. Lucky you, I have it right here for you.

To victory! Or the end of the chapter. Whatever.

………

Chapter 14: It May Be Wrong… But We Want it Anyway!

Cindy was falling.

She saw the little island of her and Jimmy's house move farther and farther away above them. And then she fell into nothing. The nothing swirled all around her. She couldn't see her hand, or even Jimmy's hand, but she could feel his hand there, holding hers tightly.

She fell out of the nothing and into herself.

Air surged into her lungs and her eyes fluttered open. Everything was blurry at first, but her vision gradually came into focus. She felt the sharp shards of glass on the floor poking into her back. Everything came rushing back to her.

Gradually, she climbed to her feet. Small shards of broken glass fell from her clothes as she stood, and she absently brushed the rest off.

She turned around slowly, noting the machine's absence before looking down at Jimmy. He didn't move.

_So this isn't a dream._

She knelt next to him, brushing a hand over his cheek. It was still warm. She began to cry, resting her head on his chest as the sobs slowly rose up. "How am I going to do this on my own?" she whimpered to herself. "This is hopeless… mom's gone… Jimmy's gone… What's the right thing?"

Grief crushed her. She wanted to be held, to be comforted, to go back to something simple. _How can I do this alone?_ She began to panic. If she tried to face Corbet again, he would just kill her, again. And since he wasn't stupid, he would stop the necklace from bringing her back. _Should I just let Corbet change things? I'll die young, but… Jimmy will be happy, won't he? But my dad won't. Maybe my mom will be happy with Mr. Corbet, but I won't. _She clutched Jimmy's shirt tightly. _… what's right?_

Cindy yearned for something to answer her question. She opened her eyes and looked at Jimmy's face. His mouth was slightly open, his eyes shut, peaceful in every way. Like he was asleep, Cindy thought. He was going to take that shot for her, and technically, he did. He gave up everything to give her a better life. He saved her life, both now and twenty years in the future. Now he was dead.

She caressed his soft, pale cheek. _Maybe… maybe I can bring him back._ She remembered being within the fold in space. She remembered learning how the necklace worked. _The necklace! _She looked away from Jimmy to the floor and gasped. The necklace was right where Corbet had thrown it. But it was as if he had never crushed it. It emitted a glow brighter than Cindy had ever seen. She crawled on her hands and knees, carefully avoiding glass, to where the necklace lay, and picked it up slowly. Everything in the system was designed to protect her. So even if she put it around someone else, it wouldn't protect them. _But Corbet doesn't know the necklace is still intact—he doesn't even know I'm alive. If I can get to use Jimmy's machine before Corbet does… I can erase Corbet from existence… bring Mom back, bring Jimmy back… I just need to make sure Corbet doesn't get my necklace. With it, he can shoot me all he wants, but he'll never hit._

She paused in her thoughts, wiping her face. She turned back to Jimmy… and something occurred to her. The bullet had entered Jimmy's chest on his right side, opposite the heart. It was a point in the body where, Cindy was very sure, there were no vital organs. Cindy's mind thought fast. Jimmy should _still_ be alive. Didn't she go to see him when she was in the fold?

But the Jimmy she had talked to in the fold sounded an awful lot like herself. It was him, but it was almost as though she were talking to herself. How could the nanobots take her to Jimmy if Jimmy was dead? She didn't ask to be taken to Jimmy's body, she asked to be taken to Jimmy himself. So if it wasn't Jimmy she was talking to, it was the next best thing… _my memory… my memory of Jimmy. The him inside of me._

Regardless, she thought, Jimmy should still be alive. She felt his neck for a pulse. She waited. And waited. Nothing. Still nothing. And then—

Glass crunched behind her, and she spun around, her heart racing. "Bark bark!"

"Oh thank goodness," Cindy said, having thought Corbet had returned. She took a deep breath.

Skylar waddled up to Cindy's side and sat contentedly on the sharp bits of glass. _Your father and Jimmy's parents are quite worried. It has been a long time since you left. It is already noon._

Cindy blinked and looked out the windows. Cloudy light filtered through. Already noon… "Skylar, this wound on Jimmy, it shouldn't have killed him."

Skylar extended her neck and assumably scanned Jimmy's body. _Of course it shouldn't have killed him. It didn't._

Cindy tried to control where her thoughts went next. "So…"

_He is still alive, strangely. But his heart is functioning at an absolute minimal capacity. His brain is in a comatose state. The poison has reached it. Of course, that bullet wound is not helping things much._

Cindy had to rack her brain to put words together. "So you're telling me that Jimmy's body is alive… But technically, Jimmy himself is dead—or—or, or unable to be reached, right?"

The puppy looked toward Cindy and seemed to compute something for a moment. _The philosophy of the soul is still being debated. It has not scientifically been proven at this point in time, but many religions and belief systems claim its existence. If you are asking whether the personality that was created through Jimmy's experiences in life and is facilitated by his brain can be in any way at all accessed or used, then the answer is no. It is, as a coma goes, in a dormant state. Dead, if you will, but capable of being brought back._

Cindy kissed her dog on the nose. _He's alive!_ she thought giddily. "You're a life saver. Listen, I need you to help me get Jimmy into the hover car. The only thing that will save him now is the antidote… and a good doctor."

…

Dr. McCarthy looked over his clipboard. "The coma Jimmy is in right now is unstable. He will enter and exit it until sometime tonight, when its effects will presumably be permanent. It seems this gun wound weakened him into the coma. But he should come out of it very soon." The doctor shook his head at Cindy. "If everything you've told me is true, this Corbet fellow is about to change a lot of things—and I like things the way they are."

Cindy smiled half-heartedly at the doctor. "Yeah, but I don't know how to operate the machine I told you about. I've checked all over Jimmy's lab, but it turns out he doesn't need operation manuals for his own inventions."

Dr. McCarthy scratched his dark-skinned chin. "Jimmy here got his brains from _someone_ in the family. Genetically, I would say someone in his immediate family is a smart cookie like Jimmy, his father or mother perhaps. It may be a long shot, but explain the concept to them. Maybe one of them can help."

Cindy looked down at Jimmy, who was once again confined to the hospital bed. Cindy could only wonder why Corbet had shot at an area of the body that wouldn't kill him. Did he _want_ to be stopped? Did he want a challenge? What did any of it matter if he was planning to change things anyway?

"You have my number, Dr. McCarthy. Call me as soon as Jimmy comes to. I'm going to pay Mrs. Neutron a visit."

…

Judy Neutron's face showed her to be very distressed. She gave Cindy a skeptical, almost pained look. "You aren't pulling my leg, are you? All this is true…?"

Cindy nodded. "I know it must be a shock, Mrs. Neutron. I feel responsible. But the important thing is that Jimmy's still alive. Unfortunately, so is Corbet. And he could figure out how to use the machine I told you about any second. I need to know how it works, so I can stop him."

"I forbid it!" Mr. Vortex nearly shouted, pacing the room in a rage. Cindy sat next to Mrs. Neutron on the couch. Mr. Neutron stood near his duck collection, and Mr. Vortex had refused to sit ever since Cindy walked through the door. "No man will shoot at my daughter." He ran a hand through his disheveled hair. "Just wait until your mother hears of this!"

Cindy winced, and Mrs. Neutron's eyes widened in understanding. 'Is she…?' she mouthed to Cindy. The blonde nodded, and Mrs. Neutron shook her head sadly.

Hugh Neutron gave Mr. Vortex a pat on the back. "Now, now, I believe your daughter here is a capable little girl. I've learned through my years as Jimmy's father that sometimes my boy can be smarter than even his old man." Mrs. Neutron tried to suppress her chuckle. "Maybe your daughter is right."

Mr. Vortex was still furious, Hugh's words having gone in one ear and out the other. "I can't believe that Ned! Is he crazy?"

"Maybe. But we need to stop him—"

"Ohhh no," Mr. Vortex interrupted, "there's no 'we' in this. You are going to stay put right here where it's safe."

Cindy tried to hold back her frustration. "You don't understand, Dad, there is no safe place now! If I sit here, who is going to stop Corbet?"

"The police are looking for him—" Mr. Vortex started.

"But they haven't found him, have they? They hardly believe the story you told them!" She pulled the necklace out from her pocket. "I'm the only one the necklace protects, the only one who can do this right now."

"I won't risk you!" Mr. Vortex shouted.

"And by doing that, you're risking everyone and everything!" Cindy shouted back. Mr. Vortex quieted at this. "Your marriage, your happiness, the future of this town, even myself, everything will be changed… if I don't do this, nothing will be able to stop Corbet. You have to trust me, Dad…"

Mr. Vortex gave Cindy a long, hard look. She returned his gaze with a confident, stubborn stare. Her father sighed, rubbing his temples. "I have to remind myself that you aren't a little girl anymore… fifteen, but already you sound like your mother." He looked away. "I wish she were here." Cindy wondered if somehow her father knew about her mother's death. "Do you know where he is?"

Cindy assumed he was asking about Corbet. "I have a fairly good idea."

She stood and gave her father a hug. Hugh sat next to his wife and held her hand, watching the close father and daughter. "I trust you, Cindy," Mr. Vortex whispered into her hair. "You're my little pumpkin, my star and my sunshine. You can do anything you put your mind to." He pulled away and looked her in the eye. "Just promise me you'll be careful?"

Cindy nodded. "I promise. Either way, I'll come back alive."

Mr. Vortex smiled down at her and let her go.

Mrs. Neutron looked as though she were thinking. "Cindy, that machine, it runs on mercury, right?"

"Yes," Cindy replied, "it uses a lot of mercury."

"And did it have a console on the side?"

Cindy thought hard. She hadn't looked at the machine in any great detail. It was small, she remembered. "I think… it had some sort of screen on one side. I don't remember a console."

Mrs. Neutron nodded. "You see, my guess is that the machine uses a series of oscillating crystal mirrors to send one intense beam of radiation deviated from the mercury's base components to the nanobots you spoke of, delivering an encrypted order of sorts that the nanobots would act upon. You said it was small, and a machine as large as a standard box could be capable of this." She paused. "If you saw a screen but no console, I believe the machine, rather than taking in typed orders, will interpret the exact change you want to be made by your thoughts. There is the least possibility of error this way."

Cindy nodded slowly. "So then how do I… access it?" she asked, unsure of herself.

Mrs. Neutron smiled pleasantly. "My son has always been proud of his genetics."

Cindy smiled, understanding exactly what she meant.

Mr. Neutron scratched his head. "Now wait just a gosh-darned minute here. Why don't you just ask Jimbo how the machine works—when he comes out of his coma?"

The blonde took a deep breath. "I'm not sure if I would… be able to trust him."

This caught the attention of all three adults. "Whyever not, sweetie?" her father asked.

"Sometimes…" Cindy started, looking for the right words. "Well… Jimmy isn't the most trusting of people."

Judy and Hugh glanced at each other. "He only believes in his own abilities, and almost never in the abilities of others," Mrs. Neutron agreed sadly. "But talk to him. You never know."

Cindy nodded. Ringing came from the corner of the room, where Skylar had been resting comfortably. The bluish dog hopped onto her feet and popped a phone out her back. Cindy walked over and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Miss Vortex? This is Dr. McCarthy."

"Hi, Doctor. Any news?"

"Yes. We've been monitoring Jimmy's brain and heart function and there seems to be more activity in both now. I believe he'll come out of his coma very soon."

Cindy released a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much. I'll be over right away."

"Ah, one more thing. He won't stay out of his coma for too long. If you plan to speak with him, do so in the next hour or hour and a half. I don't think he'll be conscious much longer than that."

"Okay."

When she hung up the phone, she turned around to the waiting adults. "Jimmy's about to wake up. We should go to the hospital to see him."

The three adults nodded. "Will you be coming in the car with us, sweetie?" Mrs. Neutron asked, standing and fetching her coat.

"No, I have something I need to do quickly. I'll take the hovercar and meet you guys there."

When Cindy stepped outside and climbed into the Jimmy's hovercar, a nauseous feeling came over her. Something was going to happen, she knew.

She put the hovercar in gear and headed opposite the direction of the hospital. She hoped for everyone's sake that people could change.

…

Jimmy was looking out the window impatiently when Cindy walked in. He looked toward her, expecting to see a nurse or his parents, but it was in fact Cindy. He smiled a tired smile at her.

"Hey there, tough guy," she said, slowly sitting in a chair already drawn to his bedside. "How are you feeling?"

He shrugged. "I'm hooked up to the IV," he said, holding up his arm to show her the needle, "so I can't feel the wound. What happened earlier today?" At Cindy's look, he specified. "I mean, after Corbet fired."

"I went somewhere. I had a pep talk with myself." Cindy ignored his confused look. "Next thing I knew, I was lying on the factory floor. I thought you were dead."

Cindy recognized the look on his face. He was going through in his head all the possible events that could fit Cindy's description. Then his eyes lit. "Corbet fired at you?"

She blinked. "How would you know?"

He pointed at her shirt. Cindy looked down and saw the small hole that the bullet had made when Corbet shot her. She hadn't noticed it before. "Oh," she said.

Jimmy's expression saddened. "He shot you in the lung… that must have been painful."

Cindy closed her eyes at the memory. It was a short one, for soon after the initial shot, the pain had vanished along with all other senses. But she could vividly remember the explosion of feeling, of blood in her lungs, of the inability to breathe; the flashes of lightning across her vision, in her head, in her chest, were even now all too real. She shuddered, and Jimmy regretted having spoken his last statement.

"What happened?" he pressed. "That bullet killed you, or came darn near close to it."

"The nanobots… saved me," she started slowly. "Corbet crushed the teardrop, but did nothing to the chain."

Jimmy nodded in understanding. "They put through a recall command. They must have asked you what you wanted to do. What did you tell them?"

Cindy shook her head. "I couldn't think of anything to say. At any rate, I talked myself into living again, into finding my own reality. And then I woke up."

Jimmy grimaced. "You know… no pressure, or blame, but you could have fixed everything right there. When they asked you what you wanted, you could have told them exactly what you wanted. You could have had everything."

"I know," Cindy replied meekly. "But I wanted nothing to do with it. It didn't feel right. Having power over everything makes it so hard to want one thing out of the infinite possibilities."

The boy genius nodded in agreement. "I know." He paused. "So what now?"

Cindy licked her lips. Here, she knew, was the moment of truth. "I'm going to stop Corbet."

Jimmy nodded. "That's what I thought. I'll come with you—"

"No, Jimmy, you're too sick. The doctor said you'd go back into your coma very soon now. No offense, but, you'll only get in the way. I don't want to rush you into the permanent coma early."

Jimmy looked at her straight in the eye, considering what to say next. "You aren't going alone. Not without me. If you won't take me, then the safest thing to do is to let Corbet change things. Who knows, there might be a possibility to change things again in the future we haven't lived yet."

Cindy shook her head and smiled sadly. "How did I know you would say that?" She looked up at Jimmy, and he saw the smile was masking her hurt. "Don't you trust me?"

He nodded. "Of course I trust you, it's just…"

"Just what?"

He stumbled over words. "You… I don't want you to get needlessly hurt."

Cindy laughed sarcastically. "Oh please, admit it. You don't think I can do it without your stupendous help."

Jimmy looked away. "That isn't true… You can't do it without my help anyway. If you insist on going alone, I won't tell you how to use my machine."

Cindy nodded repeatedly to herself. "Yep. I predicted that too. No need to give instructions, master, I already have a good idea as to how to use the machine. And if you won't tell me how to use it properly, then I'll take my chances."

"What? How would you know?"

"Even if I _didn't_," Cindy continued, fuming, "I would _still_ go and try my luck."

Jimmy bit his lip. "But what if he hurts you?"

"So what? I'll come right back to life in our new reality, right? Our normal reality. There's nothing to lose. And like you said, maybe we can fix things then."

"No, but… you could…"

Cindy saw something flicker through his eyes. And then she realized. "You're hiding something."

"What?"

"You heard me," she said quietly, scooting close to his bed. "What're you hiding?"

Jimmy rubbed his chin vigorously, looking away. "Nothing…"

Cindy sighed in frustration. "I know when you're lying, Jimmy. Tell me… please…"

Minutes passed in silence. When Jimmy looked back toward Cindy, there were tears in his eyes. "It doesn't work the way you think it does," he said quietly. He sighed, his breath shaky. "There is never just one reality. There are many, all existing at one time. The reality that we were supposed to belong to is just… just one of many, many more. It's all a…" He waved his hand, searching for words. "It's all an organic computer of sorts. And everything here is just one of many organic virtual realities. Gain control of the computer or part of it, and you have control over everything it commands." He paused, taking another deep breath. "The truth is, I created this reality. Corbet plans to revert to our original one, but he doesn't know which of the infinite realities our original is. And of infinite possibilities comes a fifty percent chance that the reality he does end up choosing will be one in which you, or me, or this whole planet or solar system or world, don't exist."

Cindy closed her eyes, taking in the information. "But I don't understand. Why should this make it any safer to let Corbet change things back?"

"If you die while accessing the nanobots, the factors in space, there's no coming back. You are erased, from every reality. And I could beg and plead to the nanobots to bring you back, but that's like trying to find a file on your computer that you've deleted. It simply does not exist." He wiped an eye. "Bits and pieces will still remain, in memories, but not enough to bring you, the real you back." Cindy shook her head, still not completely understanding, but Jimmy continued. "Cindy, if you access the nanobots, there is an overwhelming chance that you will die just by contact. To that rift in space, you're a virus, an enemy, and it won't stop at anything to try and destroy you. Or if you're trying to access it, and Corbet shoots you, you're gone."

Cindy took a deep breath. "Then how did you change everything to the way it is now?"

Jimmy stared at nothing, through his sheets. "I… took a huge chance."

Cindy was in shock. It was mind blowing. Jimmy was prepared to sacrifice everything just for a chance to give her a better life. She wondered if he now felt his sacrifice to be in vain. Suddenly, she became angry, angry at how foolish he was. "Why Jimmy?" she asked him, tears in her own eyes. "Why am I worth that much to you?"

Jimmy met her gaze. There was a confidence in his eyes. " 'I know no ways to mince it in love, but directly to say… 'I love you' '."

Cindy's heart jumped. At first she thought her ears had failed her. But when she realized they hadn't, she looked to Jimmy for confirmation. He neither looked away nor blushed. He meant what he had said. And he wasn't about to back down. She could only stare at him in shock.

"Somehow only Shakespeare can do it justice," Jimmy said quietly. "When I saw what would happen, I knew I couldn't live knowing how unhappy you would be. So I made the decision to risk it."

Cindy slowly shook her head, tears slipping down her face. "I'm not worth that. I never was."

"You're so wrong, Cindy," Jimmy responded quietly. "There is something in you that is in no other girl in the world. Your ability to comprehend things that would be undecipherable to the common human mind is… the probability is miniscule. The probability that you would have your mind and be my neighbor is even less. And yet, here we are, living in the same neighborhood and becoming good friends over the years. I could not as the teen I am promise you that my feelings would never change. But the future me, the one I saw rocking your baby, I saw him desperately wishing it was his own baby he was rocking, one he had with you. That Jimmy in that future loved you even after he got married."

Cindy's vision blurred. The question she knew she had to ask herself finally surfaced in her mind. _Do you love him?_ Cindy opened and closed her mouth. She felt withdrawn, as though her mind and heart were debating with each other.

_Do you like him?_ her mind asked her heart.

_Do you need him? _her heart replied

_Do you want him? _her brain asked.

_Do you love him?_ they both asked together, and then she realized they weren't asking each other, they were asking _her_. "I… I don't know…" she said out loud. She forced herself to meet his eyes. They looked at her, not pleading for an answer, but pleading for understanding.

She looked into his blue, trying desperately to organize her thoughts. "You… you risked everything for me, for my happiness. No matter the chance, no matter the probability… the cause is infinitely more important than either of those things right now… so I will risk everything too. If we believe in each other, if we trust each other, things can work out."

Jimmy nodded silently, the tears filling his eyes. "I don't want you to go…" he whispered, his voice hoarse.

Cindy put her hand over his, holding it tightly. "Trust me. I've trusted you this far for the most part, and now I'm going to put all my trust in you. Trust me." Her own tears slipped over her cheeks. "Do you trust me?" she asked, her voice breaking halfway through.

Jimmy nodded, trying hard to hold back his tears. "I trust you," he half whispered. "Don't let me live without you. I couldn't bear losing you again."

Cindy moved forward and kissed him on the forehead. "Trust me, and things will turn out alright."

Jimmy nodded, lifting a hand to her cheek and stroking it softly. "Take a strand of my hair," he said quietly. "Hold it in front of the screen to access it. The only… way you'll survive is… is… if you… know… the… pass…worrr…" His voice trailed off, his hand falling away from her cheek.

Cindy watched his eyes flutter open and close before they finally shut and stayed that way. _How hard this must be for him…_ she wondered. _Losing his ability to be himself… and still all he cares about is me._ Her heart hammered when she remembered what he had just confessed to her. _Maybe… I've known it all along. But that isn't important now…_

_Do you love him back?_ something within her asked.

She looked at his placid expression. The tears he had been holding back had now slipped through his defenses, unconscious as he was. But they didn't match the expression on his face. She quickly brushed them away with her thumb, making her decision.

_I don't know if it's wrong or if it's right, but… we both want it. _She looked at her face in a mirror on the bedside table. She wasn't sure she knew who she was anymore. Her heart was in turmoil over her decisions. Her face had thinned lately, and she realized she hadn't eaten in a long time. But the clock was ticking. She pulled a thin hair from Jimmy's head, hoping he didn't feel the twinge of pain, and pocketed it.

_Just one more thing to do before I go see Corbet. _She gave Jimmy one last glance before leaving the room and steeling herself for what was to come.

_If I'm going to die,_ she thought to herself, _I'm at least going to take Corbet with me_.

………

_Continued in chapter 15, Even in Death, I am By Your Side_


	15. Even in Death, I am By Your Side

Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for the wait. Not only has there been a family emergency, but also a less serious though equally worrying friend emergency. The family emergency has calmed down a little, although I am afraid to say someone within my family is no longer with us. No apologies, please. As for my friend, she is currently much better, thank goodness.

You all may be excited to hear that there WILL be a sequel to this story! You guys have been so amazing as reviewers and readers that I think you deserve it. I wasn't planning on writing a sequel, but I got hit with a good idea last night, and I'm going to use it.

Everyone seems to be in love with this story, and I'm not sure I understand all of your praise, but it's made me speechless many an occasion, and as my thanks, I've decided to create a sequel even though I wasn't planning to.

And if you are all wondering about this chapter, this is not going to be the last one. The following chapter will conclude this story, which from what I hear you are all both excited and sad to see. I'm sad to see it end too, but I hope the sequel can live up to snuff.

Reviews! You guys are awesome, by the way.

EFL: Why thank you! That's the kind of praise that warms my heart and keeps me writing. Thanks a bunch. I'm glad this is worth something for you.

dAnnYsGiRl777: This was about as soon as it was gonna get.

acosta perez jose ramiro: So then the real question is, will the password be what she expects it to be? We'll find out… Thanks for the review.

mrmuscle: sorry about the lack of updateage. I was just in such turmoil. I love my best friend dearly, she's everything to me. She was in a lot of pain and I just had no notion of writing a thing.

snoopykid2991: I'm sorry it's taken so long. But the last chapter shouldn't take _quite_ as long as this one did… I hope. I don't know, school is a son of a gun.

JammyDodger217: You sound excited that Jimmy's going to die… maybe the question is, who _isn't_ going to die?

linklovesme: If you were cheated out of your fate, something tells me you wouldn't take it sitting down. I believe Corbet has a right to fight back. Maybe just not like this.

random.pen: Thicker than GRAVY??? Harharharharhar! Thanks for the review.

LadyFM: This chapter should be just as long, I think. Thanks for the review.

Noblesse Oblige: Interesting research you're doing there, reviewing my story and all, haha. Thanks for the support.

JC Lova: Well here's a new face. Glad you like my story. Thanks for the review, and keep reading!

Dr. F. M. Obsesser: Well. Wow. Thank you. I am honored to have a reviewer like you. I believe my story is well written, but surly there are thousands of stories written far better than my own. But that is why I'm here on FFN, trying to lessen that number. Thank you for the review.

Fiery-chan: Please keep in mind that I am of a minority age group on this website and that many are here for the reviews, rather than for want of writing a good story like I am. Of course, I have no excuse for their grammar, and how can I say I don't appreciate all of your reviews? I'm here to better my writing skills. That's the only way I've gotten as good as I am now, though I still have a long way to go. But I appreciate your… appreciation? Haha. Thank you for the review, and I hope you continue reading.

ILoveInuyasha622: I'm sorry for the delay. I hope this update pleases.

scubagurl22: Why thank you. Keep the good reading and I'll keep the good writing. Thanks for the support!

Whew! You guys are nuts. That was a lot of reviews right there. Now here's what you get as your reward!

………

Chapter 15: Even in Death, I am By Your Side

_6:40 minutes remaining_, it read. At this rate, it wouldn't make it in time.

Cindy stared sadly at the machine in Jimmy's lab synthesizing his antibiotics. It was six o' clock at night. The antibiotics had to be completed in less than six hours, enough time for someone to retrieve the finished product from the lab and get it to Jimmy.

And yet, this factor was entirely separate from the fact that Corbet could change reality any second. But he hadn't. _He must not know how to operate the machine,_ Cindy decided. If that was the case, Cindy had the advantage.

She rubbed her forehead tiredly, huffing a sigh at the machine. _Can't you go any faster?_

Skylar made a noise behind her, and Cindy turned around to look at her robotic dog. She had a strange expression on her face. _Can I assist at all?_

Cindy shook her head. "I don't know. I want to take you with me to provide a little backup against Corbet. But I think you should stay here. When the antibiotics are done, I want you to take them to Jimmy as soon as possible."

Sklyar nodded. _I can do that._

Cindy took a step away from the machine, sighing. "I'll see you later, Skylar."

_Good luck._

…

There was barely anyone in school after the day was done. Apparently the custodians had been given a day off, and any teachers who would have remained were asked to go to a Board of Education meeting past the outskirts of town. In other words, Cindy realized, Corbet had arranged for a nice, quiet evening.

The blonde quietly climbed the stairwell to the third floor. _He would need a place where the machine is as clear from disruption as possible. So he must be on the roof._ Cindy was happy she had established his location, but she didn't know of any access-ways to the roof of the school.

She searched every hallway, but there were no doors that led outside. She came down the last hallway. There were two chemistry classrooms on either side, both securely locked, and a window at the end of the hallway. A nice breeze came from it.

There was no way outside, so Cindy turned around when she realized how stupid she had been. She ran to the window at the end of the hallway. It was opened wide enough for Corbet—and maybe even a small machine—to get through.

Glancing behind her, she signaled, then quickly scrambled outside the window. There was a platform, and then a ladder that led to the roof. The wind seemed to be picking up, as though a storm was coming. The sun was slowly creeping toward to horizon. Cindy knew she didn't have much time, and climbed to the top.

Corbet heard her feet crunch on the gravel that covered the roof, and turned around. Shock registered on his face. "You're alive? But how?"

Cindy smirked, pulling the necklace out from beneath her shirt. "That necklace," she said, mocking him, "both a curse and a savior."

…

To Jimmy, there was nothing. But then he became curious. How was it that he was aware of this nothing?

Something came from the nothing, a cloud of nothing that stood out from all of the nothing around it. The cloud seemed to want to communicate, but whatever it was speaking, Jimmy couldn't understand. It was as though his ears couldn't accept the sound.

The cloud seemed to realize this, and immediately it became understandable.

_Why have you tampered with 00000000?_ it asked. Jimmy could not understand the last word, but he could understand its meaning. Reality.

"Because," Jimmy said, compelled somehow to tell the truth, "if I hadn't, Cindy would have died."

_Life and death come together,_ the cloud replied. _Here, if you are born, you must die. These are the rules._

"I haven't made it so she won't die," Jimmy argued. "She will, when she's supposed to."

_Time of death was changed. Her existence now lasts longer in comparison to the previous design_.

"Yes! That way, it's fair. She can have a happier life than she did before." Jimmy felt for a moment as though he were connected to the nanobots. And then he realized exactly what he was talking to.

_Who are you to decide what will make another happy?_

Jimmy paused. "The Cindy I know would have wanted to live until she was old."

_She made her choices. She chose to do what she did. Her death would have happened by her own actions._

The genius shook his head. "No! She made those choices because she felt like she had to."

_Nonetheless, she made them. The means justify the ends._

Jimmy growled. "That isn't fair. So I was just supposed to let her die?"

_Her death gives you the right to alter 00000000? There are rules._

"I wasn't aware of any rules. Was there some class I skipped on 00000000?" He surprised himself by somehow being able to pronounce it. But he realized the nanobots were doing the work.

The cloud of nothing seemed to ponder his words. _Why did you choose to distort 00000000? There were other feasible methods to achieve what you desired._

"Because I could," Jimmy replied quietly. "That way, everything could be perfect. Or so I thought." The cloud seemed to want more of an answer, and Jimmy thought carefully before answering. "I… I have been given the ability to comprehend something of 00000000's magnitude. Perhaps mankind's greatest folly is its curiosity, but that is what got me to where I am. And now both of us are paying the price."

_Do you regret these actions?_

"No," Jimmy answered quickly. "I don't regret it for a moment. I was willing to risk everything to give Cindy a better tomorrow."

_Even her?_

Jimmy winced, taking a deep, mental breath. "I wasn't planning on this. But I think Cindy would have wanted it too. She told me to fix it. So I did."

_What does she want now?_

Jimmy shook his head. "I'm not sure. Ask her, if you're curious."

Jimmy woke up almost gasping for breath. Had he been… _talking_ to the rift? He looked at the clock on the nightstand. 6:47 P.M. _I hope Cindy's doing okay,_ he thought, casting his gaze out the open window where the sun was slowly setting.

…

Corbet growled, pulling his gun out from a pocket and loading in some bullets. He held it up to Cindy and fired. Cindy winced, but found herself moved just enough to doge the bullet. The man glared.

"Is the necklace fixed? Or did I just miss…" he muttered to himself. And then to Cindy, "Give me the necklace." He held up his gun. "I won't miss this time."

Everything was going as planned. Corbet had decided the necklace was still broken. Cindy attempted to make it seem like she was trying to hide her nervousness. Like she was trying to make him think the necklace was still working. To her glee, it worked, as Corbet smiled to himself.

Cindy knew from her time in the rift exactly how the necklace worked. Even if she were not wearing it, as long as she was in view of it, as long as it wasn't broken, it would still help her. If Corbet was smart, he knew that too. But of course, he thought the necklace was still broken. _I have to separate him and that gun._ She carefully removed the necklace from her neck, setting it on the gravel just in front of the ladder, before backing away.

Corbet strode across the roof toward the necklace, never letting his eyes move from Cindy. She made her way toward the machine, but he reached the necklace first. "Stop," he ordered. He held to gun up toward her, and she stopped. He examined the necklace. "The teardrop appears to be fixed. Is this a fake?" He was talking to himself, absorbed.

Cindy licked her lips, hoping a certain someone was paying attention. "What are you going to do with the necklace?"

At first, Corbet only looked up at her in annoyance.

And then, realizing his cue, her helping hand sprung from where he was waiting on the ladder. Corbet was completely caught off guard, and the gun went sliding across the gravel. _Great job, Nick!_ Cindy thought to herself. Nick Dean and Ned Corbet were entangled in a hand-to-hand brawl.

Cindy smiled inside at the delightful irony.

It had taken nearly an hour for Cindy to explain things to Nick, who, surprising her greatly, was more than willing to help her take down Corbet. She realized he was only a boy and easily persuaded. Cindy had explained to Nick Corbet's motive and how he killed her mother, and Nick, seemingly forgetting Cindy's sudden departure from the party, was more than eager to play hero.

She dashed across the gravel toward where the gun lay, reaching down to scoop up the pistol as she approached it… when a foot from the struggling pair popped into her path. She didn't have time to jump over the foot or veer around it. Instead she tripped forward and saw the ground come rushing toward her.

…_The necklace will save me… right?_

…_right…?_

She felt the pain before she heard the crack. And then her scream bubbled up in her throat, pushing through her closed mouth and ringing out into the air. Her arm was on fire, like it was being twisted again and again and again. And yet her purpose burned more than ever.

Biting her lip until it bled, she squirmed so that her knees were beneath her, raising herself off the gravel and reaching out toward the gun with her good arm. Losing balance, she crashed down onto her chin, tasting the blood in her mouth, but her fingers closed around the gun's barrel.

Nick and Corbet still struggled next to her as she fought for direction and control over her body. She rolled away from them and shakily struggled to her feet, fighting for balance. Her arm hung limply at her side, and she did everything she could to ignore the pain. Wiping her mouth with the back of her right hand, she held the gun up, aiming it at Corbet.

"Stop."

She only had to say it once for Nick and Corbet to immediately stop. Nick got up and backed away from Corbet, snickering even though he would have a black eye in a couple minutes. Corbet rose slowly, his back toward Cindy, and when he turned around, he was ginning.

"Whoops," he said, holding out his closed fist. Cindy knew what was inside it before he opened it. The necklace, crushed, mangled, and broken in too many places, fell to the gravel.

Cindy winced, her vision foggy in her pain. Corbet shifted and warped in front of her. "Nick," she said, looking at him, "take the gun, and don't let your eyes off of him."

Nick nodded, moving toward her and taking the gun. "You alright?" he asked, looking at her arm.

Cindy nodded. "Just… don't take your eyes… off of him," she pressed. She turned around toward the machine, reaching into her pocket. She couldn't find it. She dug deeper, checking all around, before trying her other pocket. "Shoot, no!"

A laugh from behind her made her turn around. Corbet smiled to himself. "Looking for… this?" He held his hand up, holding something between his fingers like one would hold a cigarette. It was a tiny hair.

Cindy groaned inwardly. _He must have somehow gotten it when he tripped me. Or… maybe he had known it was there?_ Cindy turned to Nick, and Nick understood what he was to do immediately.

Holding the gun straight at Corbet's chest, he approached the man slowly with his left hand outstretched. "Put it here, Corvette," Nick said, drawing closer. Corbet rolled his eyes at his name change. Nick stopped a foot from the older man. Slowly, Corbet moved his hand over Nick's outstretched one. Beads of perspiration dripped from Cindy's forehead. The pain was too intense. She felt like she was going to pass out.

Suddenly, a gust of wind smacked into them. The hair flew from between Corbet's fingers, carried far, far away in the wind. Nick reached out after it, but Corbet was one step ahead. There was a shot. Then Corbet kneed Nick in the crotch, snatching the gun from the cowering boy's hands.

Cindy didn't even blink before another shot rang out. Nick was on the ground, a blotch of red rapidly spreading across his chest. Corbet was breathing heavily. The wind was still blowing strong. He turned toward Cindy and took a step. Cindy panicked.

_How is this all turning wrong?_

Corbet took another step, and then faltered. He swayed, moving a hand to his chest. When he pulled his hand away, it was covered in red. _Did Nick shoot him?_ The older man staggered backwards, his eyes crossing.

"DAMN IT!" he screeched. His eyes stared at nothing as he stumbled closer to the edge of the building. He reached a hand out toward Cindy. "All I wanted…" he wheezed. "All I wanted… was… what I was promised at birth…"

Cindy felt sudden sympathy for this man. She searched for something to say. "It… It was the Purple Flurp!"

He shook his head slowly, gasping for breath now. "The Pur… Flurp?"

"You used to drink a lot of Purple Flurp, right? Maybe you still do… but, but when you drank it from the bottles produced at that factory… well you must have figured it out by now, right? The mercury made you insane, right?"

Corbet looked stunned. Then he threw back his head and laughed. Not an evil laugh, a sad one. A horrifyingly sad laugh. "All this time…" To Cindy's surprise, he sobbed. "All this time, and I thought I was in love…"

"In love?" Cindy asked through teeth gritted in pain. "How could you be in love if you killed…" She swayed, regaining balance after a moment. "…killed the woman you were in love with?" Some sort of missing piece of logic seemed to slip into place in Corbet's mind at Cindy's words. "The woman you killed in this reality is the same as the woman of your original reality," Cindy continued.

"But my destiny…"

Cindy shook her head. "Don't you see by now? This _is_ your destiny."

Corbet's eyes met with Cindy's. "So it is…" A strong gust blew, and his eyes rolled back into his head, just like Jimmy's had. "I loved… your mother…" He stepped back, then back again. "Factory… photo alb… allllb…" And then he fell over the edge of the roof.

Cindy sank to the ground, the pain in her arm unbearable. There was no hope without Jimmy's DNA. The sun had already reached the horizon, and she wouldn't have the time or energy to return to Jimmy's lab to get the antibiotics, that is, if they were even finished in time. That was Skylar's job anyway. Goddard was with Jimmy, so she would get no help there. Cindy's only hope was the machine. She stumbled over to it. But there was nothing she could use to gain access to it. She kneeled in front of the machine, draping herself over it. _Now what?_

"_Scanning._"

The voice, computerized, seemed to come from the machine. Cindy moved back, looking down to where the scanning area was.

"_DNA recognized. Please wait…. Sending signal…_"

It had scanned her pants. Cindy didn't understand… and then she saw. The drop of Jimmy's blood that had landed on her pants when Corbet had shot him. The machine recognized Jimmy's DNA in the blood. Had Cindy had more energy, she would have jumped for joy.

Suddenly, she felt like her mind was being accessed. At first, she resisted. Then she realized it was the nanobots, trying to connect her. She closed her eyes and let them in.

…

Jimmy felt like he drifted into consciousness. Memory swarmed his mind, and he glanced quickly to the clock. _8:50_… He let his eyes close slowly. "Goddard, you there?" His trusty companion barked from the floor, hopping up onto the bed. "Can you contact Skylar? She's bound to be with Cindy."

A small satellite dish _rrrrrred_ out of Goddard's back. It swiveled around, searching for a signal.

"Bark! Bark bark, grrr bark bark!"

Jimmy blinked. She was in the lab? But what was she doing there? "Ask her if I can talk to Cindy."

There was a pause. Then Goddard growled quietly.

Jimmy shook his head. "She isn't there? Why is Skylar there… oh, to bring me the antibiotics. So Cindy's still with Corbet…" Jimmy bit his lip. There was a horrible feeling in his chest.

_Cindy…_

…

Cindy felt her mind being flooded with meaning, not words. She was being assessed by the fold. She waited patiently for their decision. And then came the words, and her mind, her conscience, was being removed from her body. The signals weren't sent directly from the fold. Instead, it was the nanobots acting as a security system to the fold. _Jimmy respected it,_ she thought absently. _He wanted to protect reality and what it meant._ Then came the command.

_State the code._

Cindy bit her lip. The password. Jimmy fainted before he told her what it was. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the nanobots' request. If she was wrong… Every password of Jimmy's had been Betty Quinlin this, Betty Quinlin that. But that was a long time ago. Had Jimmy changed? Had he accepted what he had felt? The pain in Cindy's arm rang in the back of her head. She made her decision. _Betty Quinlin._

There was a pause. And then… _Incorrect code._

Cindy felt suddenly under attack. Her mind was being rejected by the nanobots, as though forcibly being shoved back into her head. She clutched her head in pain, shaking it back and forth. The nanobots weren't just shoving her mind back into her head… they were destroying it. Stabbing pain blinded her. Every which way she turned, the throbbing only became worse. The pain in her arm became unnoticeable behind the impossible explosion in her head.

She looked upward and screamed.

_This is it,_ she thought fleetingly. _I've failed._ Again, she felt as though she was withdrawn from her body, watching herself scream in pain from a strange perspective. The pain faded, but she could still see herself screaming. Was that even her? The screaming girl that looked like her seizured violently, stumbling around a strange machine before tripping over the edge of the roof she stood on and falling, falling, falling…

Dead.

The scene faded before her eyes, and she traveled upward, upward, through a sky of nothing. She felt as though she was going infinitely fast. And then she stopped. Something was in front of her, blocking her path. A shapeless figure. A cloud.

_You are no longer living,_ the cloud stated.

Somehow, Cindy felt no surprise. "I know," she said.

_You have failed in your plight._

"I know," she repeated.

_Why were you trying to change 00000000?_

"00000000?" she asked. But somehow she knew what it meant. "Because I wanted to live."

_Because of your actions, you have lived for an even shorter amount of time than originally designed._

"Yes."

_Do you regret it?_

"No. It's better to work for something you want and die trying than to live an existence of shame and sadness."

_There are rules to 00000000._

"Does that matter now?"

The cloud seemed to be studying her. _What is it that you wanted?_

"I wanted to bring my mother back. I wanted to save Jimmy from the sickness I indirectly caused. I wanted to give Corbet a different future, so that he could live and make his own choices and be a happy man." She paused. "I guess… I wanted a second chance."

_You are no longer living. The rules state you have no second chance._

Cindy nodded. "Yeah." She wasn't quite sure who this cloud was, nor was she sure why it was even talking with her. All she knew is that it seemed to be blocking her path to nothing.

_You do not regret breaching the rules?_

"I was never aware of these rules. To me, in a situation like this one, rules are only an encumbrance. I wanted Jimmy to be happy again. I didn't expect for things to go so wrong and become so complicated. Now Jimmy won't be happy for a long time, if ever."

The cloud seemed to decide something. Just as strangely as it had appeared before her, it left. She turned back to the nothing, preparing to let it take her. But there was a hand holding her arm tightly, refusing to let go.

…

The clock read 10:39. Jimmy looked toward Goddard. "Think the antibiotics are done yet?"

Goddard whined.

Jimmy sighed, looking toward the window. Just then, the door to his hospital room opened. It was Judy.

"Hi there, Jimmy, dear."

The tone of her voice was rejected by his ears immediately. He didn't like it. Whatever she was going to say, he knew he would regret hearing. And yet… "What is it, Mom?"

Judy met with Jimmy's eyes briefly before shifting her gaze to the dark window. "Well, the police. They've found Corbet." Jimmy nodded, signaling for her to continue. "Well, he was at your school. He's dead." Jimmy paused briefly in thought before nodding again. "Nick Dean was brought here a little while ago."

"Nick?"

"He was the one who shot Corbet. But the shot didn't kill him. He broke his neck when he landed in the school dumpster. Nick was barely alive when they found him. I don't think he's going to make it."

Jimmy swallowed hard, nodding again.

"And then…" Mrs. Neutron continued, hesitating. "Well, that friend of yours, Betty Quinlin, she's here was well. She overdosed on something. She's on life support, but she isn't getting any better."

"What?" Jimmy shook his head slowly. _Betty? What does she have to do with anything? Why did she overdose?_

"Mr. Vortex," Judy added, her lip trembling, "well, we think he might have lost it. He found out about his wife. And… well." Mrs. Neutron's gaze never left the window. "They found Cindy too."

Jimmy's thoughts stopped short, and he had a hard time bringing his gaze around to look at his mother. "They found her… they _found_ her?"

"She broke an arm. And then she apparently stumbled over the side of the building too. She landed on the other side. A tree broke her fall, but there are a few broken ribs as well. She's still alive, but they took an MRI. There's something wrong with her brain. They don't know if they can do anything, honey."

An intense emotion bubbled up in Jimmy's throat, but he wasn't prepared to release it. _This makes no sense. Mrs. Vortex was shot and died. Corbet was shot, and died falling off the roof. Nick was shot trying to stop Corbet and is going to die soon. Betty… wherever the hell she comes into this… overdosed? Mr. Vortex has gone crazy. And I'm going to die in an hour. And the only person left involved is Cindy. And she's… hanging in the balance? What does this mean?_

Mrs. Neutron studied her son. She saw the neurons clicking in his brain and, rather than interrupting him, settled for watching.

_No,_ Jimmy realized. _There are more people involved here. My parents won't live happily with me gone, and all the Vortex family… Carl and Sheen and their families… Libby and her parents… my teachers, Nick's parents, Betty's parents, all of our families… What was this for? I wanted to save Cindy, but now, while she hangs in the balance, five others will die, and many, many others will be affected. _He paused. _And such is the meaning of irony at its worst._

Jimmy got up from his bed, unplugging every last bit of machinery from him, even yanking out his IV. "What room is she in?" His mother already knew exactly where to take him.

………

_Concluded in chapter16, The Greatest Irony Lies in the Retrospect of a Future_


	16. The Greatest Irony

ALRIGHT! Took forever but thanks to a banana I remembered this lost chapter and HEY. Here you go. SO sorry for the wait. I hope you all didn't give up on me.

ILoveInuyasha622: So sorry for the delay. But yup. Here is the long awaited chapter sixteen. Thanks for the support!

Cherry Productions: Hahahaaaa… hopefully it doesn't take too long, eh? Sorry! Glad you like it, though.

Readrbug21: Thanks for the continuous support… couldn't have done it without you.

mrmuscle: Yes. It is awesome. I try very hard. Haha.

acosta perez jose ramiro: That's what I intended… hope the 'ending' suits you.

Krystyn: You've probably been sitting there waiting for this chapter for a very long time. I'm so sorry it's taken this long! School is just… ugh.

robinandstarfire4ever: Haha, I'm glad you like it so much.

i l u v r a e: Haha, that's what I'm trying to do! Glad you like it so much. Hope you like this chapter too!

LadyFM: This chapter may answer a couple questions for you.

HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS REVIEW TOO MUCH!

pant

Fiery-chan: Oh… I imagined it as sort of… well you know that fizzy barely audible sound your TV makes when its on mute? The zeros were just sort of like… blips. There really is no meaning to it. You can't pronounce the word. It just is.

linklovesme: You shall see, my friend, you shall see!

Tari Sirfalas: Haha, noooo, I thought you hated it. Thanks for the review.

JC Lova: Eww, like rugrats all grown up? That show was such a waste, if you ask me… maybe a career in writing, but I really don't know where I'm going with myself.

JammyDodger217: Assuming I actually get around to writing the sequel, haha, you'll find out what the 'cloud thing' is. Thanks for the review!

Dark Lady of the Sith: Horrible place to stop the chapter? Try best place… except that I haven't updated in forever… I'm sorry! But here it is.

rin916: Gaaah, sorry for the wait. But here you are.

RandomLegend: Yeah, it's my favorite conspiracy theory of sorts yet. The universe is an interesting place… of course, I think if you asked any physicist about the possibilities of any part of this story holding true, well… Thanks for the review!

Sarah: I know! I'm sorry. But here it is.

I Collect Bananas: Okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay… so on. Thanks for all of your support!

Well… here we go, everyone. Enjoy.

………

The Greatest Irony Lies in the Retrospect of a Future

Cindy lay on the bed in room 326, panting heavily. She was fighting. Jimmy watched her heart monitor racing, reaching out a hand and holding hers. "You might want to go, but I won't let you," he told her unconscious form. He smiled wryly. "Death isn't all it's cracked up to be."

He looked fondly at her face, creased with strain as she struggled between life and death. Jimmy closed his eyes. "I don't know what's meant to be. Five lives could end today, maybe six, because of me." He looked toward the floor. "So after everything we've been through, this is how it's going to end? Fate has the last laugh after all." He searched his mind, for something, anything that could help him. _Think… think… think…_ There was a whisper there in his ears, and he strained to hear it.

_If scientists always throw down their pencils in frustration, then maybe they should try using a pen._

"Brain blast…" he murmured. _Have I been going about this the wrong way? What can fix things now?_ Jimmy spun around to look at his mother. "Did they touch the machine? The police?" She shrugged, giving Jimmy an apologetic expression. He looked back toward Cindy. "I've been trying to solve this by asserting my power, by outsmarting fate. But what if… what if I let fate 'win'?" He stood and turned to his mother. "I'm going to go, Mom."

Judy opened her mouth with every intention of forbidding him to leave, and whispered softly, "Okay, Jimmy. Be careful please."

Jimmy saw the pain in his mother's eyes and reached out to her, holding her in an embrace. "It'll be okay. I love you."

"And I you, my little boy genius."

Jimmy opened the door and stepped into the hallway, finding Goddard waiting obediently on his hunches. "Where is the device, boy? Is it still at school?" A satellite dish whirred to life on Goddard's back. Goddard nodded an affirmative. "Come with me, then. Send a message to Skyler. Tell her to abort her current mission and meet us at the high school."

"Bark bark!"

…

Cindy was bored. It was the only word she could think of to describe her situation. She was sitting on her front porch. Where her property once ended, an endless stretch of nothing allowed it to continue into infinity. There was no one here—Cindy had checked the house twice—and she was quite frankly bored out of her skull. She had a watch on, which was unusual, and every time she checked the time, a minute still hadn't passed. Huffing, she stared into the bleak and wafting nothing.

She felt somewhat lost. There were little bits of things she could remember, but nothing substantial. She had taken an interest in her arm, which was slightly disfigured, as if it were painlessly broken. _That_ part, she remembered. _What the hell are the chances,_ she thought dully, _that I could trip and break my arm?_ It puzzled her. She would have had to land on the gravel—the gravel covering wherever she had been, for even that she couldn't remember—just right. What were the chances of any of this happening? She dropped her head in a hand, toying with a few ideas.

She gradually became aware of a shape in the nothing. She squinted. There was definitely something there. She got up and ran, forgetting that there was no ground beneath her, and stopped before the shape. It was a person—no, she thought, not a person, a _god_. His form was captivating, alluring, like the most dangerous of enemies. He was everything she would have ever wanted to goggle over in a Hollywood actor—times a million. She gasped. The person wore a cloak of nothing, and, she guessed, was probably made of nothing too. But here he was, standing before her.

The person held out both hands. In one lay a pencil; in the other, a pen. Confused, Cindy looked back up at the god-like man. Choose, that much was obvious. But why? And to what consequences?

She looked back and forth between the two writing implements, finding it hard to keep her eyes off the magnificent being holding them. Wisps of something far off came back when she took in the objects, something that teasingly caressed the outskirts of her mind. A memory? She struggled to grasp it, to pin down the wisp with a thought or a word, but she struggled to no avail. The wisp, however, made it apparent that there was something beyond this, beyond her house in a sea of nothing.

Again she focused on the pen and pencil. Finally, she reached out, tentatively at first, for the pencil. But she paused just before touching it. _Pencils are so unreliable, _she told herself. _They always break and I don't see a sharpener anywhere near here. _Comfortable with her decision, she moved her arm in the other direction, pausing before the pen. _Pens are unreliable too… what if it has no ink?_ The thought stumped her. Then a solution came to her. Decidedly, she reached out and grabbed both the pen and pencil.

Suddenly, as if brought forth by the act of holding them, the wisp entered her mind and she was able to remember something. She looked up at the mysterious being. "I'm not sure I understand," she told him.

The man reached out a hand and brushed her cheek. His touch sent sparks through her body, reminding her. _Jimmy_. But this touch was nothing like his. _Jimmy?_ She paused, her mind reeling for a moment. _JIMMY!_ She looked up urgently into the man's face. So much was missing from her memory, she realized.

Then the man spoke in a voice that was like warm honey to her ears. There were no words, simply meaning. "I have made an appropriate decision for now," he both thundered and hummed. "But the system will contact later. They will not allow 00000000 to be tampered with without sufficient consequence." His beautiful face, to Cindy's intense surprise, gained a twinge of sadness. "Humans are interesting… but the system may rule them a threat. All may be erased." His words meant nothing to Cindy. He seemed to realize this. "Please wait patiently for the reconditioning process of your data."

Then he was gone. Cindy stared dumbly into the nothing surrounding her. "Is this supposed to be some sort of waiting room?" There was no answer to her question. She huffed angrily. "What… no year-old magazines?"

…

The sun was gone and midnight was approaching fast. When Jimmy climbed onto the roof of the high school, Skylar was waiting obediently by the machine. The rooftop was decorated with police tape.

On the trip there, Jimmy had felt his coma coming like a thunderstorm on the horizon. Frequent bouts of haziness reminded him how little time he actually had. He stumbled across the gravel rooftop, nearly collapsing over his machine when he reached it. "Skylar, I'm sorry, I'm going to have to use you." The puppy did not understand, but nodded anyway. Wasting no time, Jimmy placed his hand over the console.

"_Scanning… DNA recognized. Please wait… sending signal…_"

Jimmy recognized the familiar sensation that rushed into his mind. He prepared himself for the command he would have to give. He waited patiently for the nanobots to assess him. He felt his body slip away.

_State the code._

He breathed deeply in his head. "Cindy."

_Code accepted._

This was it. Quickly Jimmy cut the command script. "Cancel protocol."

There was a pause.

_Cancel direct connection?_ came the prompt.

"Yes," Jimmy said.

_Connection canceled._

Jimmy took a moment to calm his nerves. He didn't need to access the fold to do what he needed to do. There was little chance he would be seen as anything but a virus to the fold at this point. As much as he wanted to simply fix everything, there was a simpler way of doing things.

"Access subject data," he commanded the nanobots.

_Data accessed._

"Access subject structure program."

_Program accessed._

"Access system overhaul."

_Overhaul system?_

"Yes."

_Replace system?_

"Yes."

_Please enter replacement executable code_.

"Command copy file /SujectStructureProgram/ from folder /SystemManager/ to prompt."

_Executing…_

Jimmy waited. What he was doing, or the theory behind it, was quite simple. When he had created the nanobots' functions, he had defined two subjects. Himself as the manager of the system, and Cindy as the subject that the system would act upon. Now he simply deleted the information on Cindy and replaced it with his own.

_Overhaul complete. Changes saved. Disconnect?_

"No."

_Enter command_.

The necklace was destroyed. The only other computing device Jimmy knew had the capability to act as the necklace had was Skylar. Goddard's upgrades had long been neglected, put behind the more important projects of Skylar, the necklace, and his own health. He thought carefully about where to access the proper file.

"Access driver system."

_Command 'access driver system' not found._

Jimmy bit his lip. Just where had he put that file? "Access driver command system."

_Command 'access driver command system' not found._

Jimmy gasped in sudden memory. "Access driver subdirectory."

_Driver subdirectory accessed._

Jimmy smirked at his success. "Access driver connection ID. Submit change."

_Enter driver ID._

Jimmy remembered Skylar's ID like the back of his hand. "0067708082991."

_Change complete. Disconnect?_

Jimmy breathed a sigh. "Yes."

He felt the nanobots drift away, and was suddenly rushed back into his body. He had fingers again, breath filled his lungs… and he felt the pain of his disease creeping slowly toward his brain. He gasped at the shock of it all. He had fallen on his back and struggled now to sit up. Goddard whined quietly at his master. Skylar was sadly still, her eyes aglow. The nanobots were transferring software to her, the same software that had existed in the necklace. Jimmy barely managed to crawl to where she sat and open up a hatch craftily hidden in her back. An intense motherboard slid out.

"Goddard, I can't really see straight," Jimmy said dazedly. "Can you change something in the system file in here?" He pointed at one of Skylar's many hard drives. Goddard barked, connecting to Skylar. "I need you to change a script." He walked Goddard through the navigating process until finally Goddard found the file he was looking for. "Erase it and replace it," Jimmy commanded, "with a script number 0000000001." Goddard complied.

_What will this do?_ Goddard asked on a little screen, having completed his task.

Jimmy gave his dog a pat on the head. "Connecting to the fold and changing everything there like Cindy tried to do is too risky," he explained, struggling to get on his feet. He failed, and stayed where he sat. "I connected to the nanobots and changed their commands. They now protect me instead of Cindy, and instead of a necklace, Skylar is the device that scans and executes changes." He brushed a hand through his hair. The coma was coming back. Any moment now. He huffed, continuing his explanation. "Normally, the necklace decides what change needs to be made to protect a subject based on the factors around it. The nanobots then execute the change. But the file I had you erase from Skylar was the calculator that decided what change would be made. The file you replaced it with made it so that, no matter what danger comes to me, there will only be one possible change."

_It will change reality to be just the way it was._

"Right," Jimmy said, smiling at his dog. "Now how'd you get so smart?"

Goddard ignored Jimmy's playful mood. _What will happen to us, to you, to Cindy?_

"I don't know if anyone will remember any of this. But there's nothing in the file that alters memories, just physical conditions—the place one is standing, the condition of the cells in their body, the words on their lips, the particular breath they're taking, so on. Everyone in the world will probably just have a case of extreme déjà vu." Jimmy felt his strength draining away. He let himself fall backwards, looking up at the starry night sky.

_How far back will it go?_

"Most likely the time Cindy received the necklace. Her birthday."

_So that's it? Everything's fixed?_ Goddard seemed incredulous.

Jimmy did not remove his gaze from the sky. "Not everything." He struggled to lift his wrist enough to see his watch. 11:46. Skylar's eyes still glowed; the files hadn't been completely downloaded yet from the nanobots. He felt faint. "When something dangerous happens to me and the change is made, I will be connected to the nanobots. Whatever happens has to be life-threatening." He chuckled almost cynically. "And whatever happens to me, I'd have to live long enough afterward for the change to be executed… and it isn't a simple change. It involves moving parts of the whole universe—time itself. The fold is infinitely fast… but the nanobots are not. It will take… approximately ten minutes, I think, for the nanobots to organize the data to execute the change."

Goddard stopped panting in realization. _You mean…_

Jimmy nodded, the pain of gravel digging into his head unimportant now. "My disease is the life threatening thing that will initiate the change. Before the change is complete, I will die from this disease while being connected to the nanobots. Without a functioning body for my mind to return to, all data of myself will be erased."

Goddard whined hysterically. _Can nothing be done?!_

Jimmy looked longingly at his dog. The time was now 11:51. He had worked the calculations out multiple times in his head. Judging by the rate of decay and the distance the disease needed to travel, he would die within five minutes of midnight, just as predicted. He looked up to meet his faithful companion's eyes. "If I die before the download finishes… then something could be done." He stared levelly at his dog. "I can't move anymore, Goddard… no energy… Could you kill me?" His dog was utterly horrified at the thought. Jimmy half smirked. "Nothing can be done. I am only human."

Goddard shrieked a bark, howling as though he were being attacked. He plodded over to Skylar and barked at her, as if doing so would help to complete the download. Her eyes still glowed. Goddard spun around to look at Jimmy.

"Tell Cindy I love her. And Mom and Dad, and Carl and Sheen and Libby and everyone else, tell them all I love them and will miss them dearly."

_No_, Goddard cried, _you can tell them yourself._

Jimmy laughed at his dog, tears in his eyes. "It's okay, boy, it's okay. I had come to peace with dying a long time ago."

_You're just going to give up?! _Goddard shook his head wildly. _Cindy will never forgive you!_

Jimmy let the drops of water slide down his cheek. "I know." He closed his eyes, his smile turning to a frown. "Newton knows, I know." He sobbed. _How unmanly,_ he thought. _I wonder how Cindy would think of me now._ "I… I'm going to miss her, so much," he said, his voice breaking. Goddard sat on his hunches, defeated. It was 11:57.

The light in Skylar's eyes faded; the download was complete. Skylar's head rotated toward Jimmy. He could tell she was scanning him. Almost immediately, a satellite dish emerged from her back, and he guessed she was broadcasting the signal to the nanobots. "Ten minutes now, boy," Jimmy said. He closed his eyes, feeling a wave of unconsciousness coming toward him. "Ten more minutes, and things will be normal again… as normal… as they can be…"

Goddard was a stone, watching his master. Never, the dog vowed, would this memory file be deleted. He watched his master cry, perhaps without knowing, as Jimmy fell once more into the clutches of the coma. His breath came less and less frequently. Goddard whimpered with unspeakable sadness, nuzzling his master's hand. By 12:00, his breathing had stopped. By 12:05, Goddard could detect no signs of life. The poison had reached his brain. Jimmy was gone.

Sighing, Goddard rested his head on the chest of his master, wondering how things could ever be the same. The seconds passed, and then it was 12:07. Goddard looked up toward the night sky, the last place Jimmy had seen. And then, as if the future had never happened, everything reverted.

When Goddard realized he was sitting on the Neutrons' kitchen floor in the very same position he'd sat in many weeks ago, seeing Judy's face fill with surprise, horror, and despair as a pancake rotated in mid-flip, he could only register one thought.

Jimmy Neutron was no more.

…

Cindy blinked. She was reaching out, her hand closed around a small space of air, as though she were grabbing something. But there was nothing there. She glanced around, immediately recognizing her neighborhood.

The morning was cool, but held the promise of a warm summer day.

Where was Jimmy? But somehow she knew. She let her hand drop to her side, dazed. Wasn't she dead?

_What are you doing?_

She spun around, gasping. A glorious being stood before her as though he had been there the whole time. Seeing him made her remember the strange area she had just been in, with her house surrounded by the nothing. "What am I… doing?" she repeated.

_This is a second chance. You breathe once more._ Cindy didn't follow his words. _Stop your father from going to work. Tell the school about the depressed girl. There is a treatment for this man Corbet's condition; tell him. Tell Nick what his future was like, so that he does not think it was a dream._

Slowly, Cindy took in what he was saying. They had gone back in time? Was it some sort of reset process? Or perhaps she was dreaming too. The being standing before her in some sort of humanoid form was telling her to correct the future, now that she knew what would happen. She could save every person who was going to die—though she didn't know where Betty, the 'depressed girl,' came in, but she could save her too. But… "What's the point…?" she asked numbly. "Where is Jimmy?"

_The one you call Jimmy was erased, connected to the fold as he was when he died of human frailty._ Cindy blanched, then struggled to pretend like she didn't hear what he said. _Or, he should be_, the being continued. _You humans are… interesting. I could not reset reality. It is not in my jurisdiction. But he could… and now that reality is reset, the minor change I made will have gone unnoticed._

"Minor change?" This being, Cindy realized, was becoming more human each time she spoke with it. He must have been the one who had first stopped her from entering the nothing forever ago… or forever ahead? And it was he who had talked with her in the strange place surrounded by nothing.

Again, shocking her, the being's lips curved upward in a smile. _Please do as I have told you. Then return here. I will… make things better, as humans say._

Cindy bit her lip. Was this for real? "Why are you helping me… us…?"

The being's smile faded. _I do not know. Your struggle to… survive, and be… happy, is foreign to me, and to my kind. Yet I found a part of me that relates, and wishes to be as you are. Alas, our fates are different._

Cindy blinked. She had never thought to ask a question that, despite its simplicity, could answer much. "Who… _are_ you?"

The being, standing in a god's glory, disappeared.

…

Cindy's father had blinked at her in surprise when she burst back into the house ordering that he call in sick.

"What are you… _talking_ about, Cindy? And aren't you going to miss your bus?"

Cindy had huffed. "Do you not remember a single thing that happened… or, is going to?"

Her father had looked at her as though she were nuts. Regardless, Cindy talked him into staying home. He left the kitchen to make the call, grumbling, "Either my daughter is crazy or I'm crazy for listening to her."

That taken care of, Cindy then called the school.

"Hello, Retroville High Guidance Department, what can I do for you?"

"Hi, I'd like to submit an anonymous tip about a student at your school."

The woman paused for a moment. "Oh, alright." Cindy heard shuffling as though the woman, most likely Mrs. Treat the councilor, fumbled for some paper. "And what is this tip?"

When Cindy hung up the phone five minutes later, she congratulated herself for a very convincing story about Betty's condition. She hadn't really known that Betty was depressed at all… but _he_ had said it, so it must be true.

Next, Cindy made her father, still grumbling about work, drive her in to school late. "I'll be back in like fifteen minutes. Don't go anywhere!"

"Shouldn't you, I don't know, _stay_ in school?" her father shouted out the window.

"Not today!" Cindy called back, running for the school doors like a star sprinter. "I'm feeling kinda' sick!"

She tore through the school hallways. It was a passing period between first and second. She found Nick surrounded by a gaggle of girls, all seemingly heartbroken. Cindy pushed, perhaps a little too rudely, through them, grabbing Nick's arm and tugging him away. He blinked. "Hey, Cindy."

"Did you learn nothing from what you experienced?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't tell me you don't remember either!"

"Chill!"

"Why aren't you…" She paused, looking over his attire. For the first time in years, Nick Dean was not wearing leather. He was wearing just a normal shirt. And were those _glasses_ on his face? "You wear glasses?"

"Yeah. I used to keep them at home, because, really, they don't look so hot. That whole dream thing I had was wicked, and I thought about ignoring it, but it scared me a little." He paused. "Don't really know why I'm telling you this."

"Listen, Nick, it wasn't a dream." He gave her a look. "I was there. I told you about your future, about what you would become. You tried to play hero. Corbet shot you."

"Dude," was all he said, astonished.

"It wasn't a dream. Learn from it, okay?"

"I don't really understand… must be Neutron again."

Cindy's thoughts stopped when he mentioned Jimmy. Kicking a small bout of panic back, unsure what would happen when she returned to the strange being, she brushed a hair behind her ear, picking up where she left off. "It was real, Nick. Change your future, since you've been given the chance."

He shrugged. "That's what I was planning anyway. I was cheating on all those girls. So I told them. And now I'm actually going to try and study." Cindy almost gaped at the words exiting his mouth. "I know, crazy, right?" He laughed coolly. "Gotta go to class. Later, Cindy. And thanks, I guess."

Composing herself again, Cindy turned on heel and headed for Corbet's classroom. But it was empty. She found him in the teacher's lounge, pouring himself a cup of coffee. Cindy wasn't sure if he would remember what happened or not. Her dad didn't. Nick had. So who's to say Mr. Corbet would?

He looked up in surprise, almost spilling coffee on himself. "Cindy? Shouldn't you be in class?"

She ignored him. "Do you remember, Mr. Corbet?"

At first he looked confused, but then he frowned. "A little."

"Your condition is treatable."

"What…? Condition?"

The room was empty aside from them, and Cindy explained carefully to him the mercury scandal. "You see, Mr. Corbet, you can get it treated." She smiled wryly. "You don't have to kill Jimmy and me, and my dad and my mom now, okay?"

His eye twitched. "So it wasn't a dream… what a waste of planning," he said. Cindy was unsure as to whether or not she could trust Corbet. But when he spoke again, she relaxed. "I remember a bit of a conversation with you… somewhere windy?"

"Yes."

"And after that, something clicked… though I am unsure what, truly. I have mercury poisoning?"

"Yes."

He nodded, a bit flabbergasted. "I'll schedule an appointment at the hospital, then."

"Dr. McCarthy," Cindy said.

"Pardon?"

"Request Dr. McCarthy."

Cindy rushed out of the building and leapt into her dad's car, full of adrenaline. "Let's go home, Dad!"

Her father grumbled. "I should stop by the doctor's on the way and get you checked out."

"Need I remind you it's my birthday?"

He sighed in defeat. "Home it is."

…

Mrs. Vortex looked up in surprise when Cindy burst through the garage door into the house, wrapping her arms around her mother, robed with coffee in hand. "Cindy, dear?"

Cindy buried her face into her mother's robe, saying nothing, holding back tears of joy. _It never felt so good… to do this before…_

Mr. Vortex followed Cindy in, hanging his light jacket by the door. "She been acting strange all morning.

"Doesn't she have school?" Mrs. Vortex questioned, setting down her coffee and placing her hands on her daughter's back.

"She sure does. But apparently today is her birthday."

Mrs. Vortex smiled. "Ah, well, why not. I'll call her in sick." She paused. "As soon as she lets me go."

Cindy gave one last squeeze before letting her mother go. "There's something I have to go do. But I'll be back later."

"Don't get caught by the police!" Mr. Vortex shouted as Cindy ran out the front door. "Sheesh." He turned to his wife, giving her a look of disbelief.

Mrs. Vortex turned toward the living room, where the inviting TV and couch sat. "Don't give me that look, dear," she said. "She's _your_ daughter."

…

Cindy dashed around the corner to her bus stop. There was no one there. She slowed down, deflated.

"Cindy! Cindy dear!" someone shouted from behind her. She turned around and smiled warmly at Mrs. Neutron. Did she remember? Mrs. Neutron huffed and puffed as she ran up to Cindy, putting her hands on Cindy's shoulder and giving her a good and hard look-down. "You're safe!"

Cindy nodded. "Yeah. I'm not really sure how, though."

Mrs. Vortex looked away from Cindy. "Jimmy fixed things, somehow."

Cindy looked down. "Do you blame me for all of this, Mrs. Neutron? Isn't it my fault that this has happened?"

"How could I blame you for my son's actions?" she asked, surprised at Cindy's question. "That boy is his own person. He does what he thinks is best." She wiped tears from her eyes. "Oh, look at myself. Here I go." She laughed, standing up straight and fiddling with her fingers. Cindy bit her lip. "Oh, Cindy, I almost forgot!" She reached into her pocket. "Someone left this on our front porch. It was addressed to you, so I didn't open it." She handed Cindy a letter. "I really must be going," she said, turning, "lots of pies to make…"

Cindy stared at the piece of lined paper, taking a breath, and opened it.

_Fate has been changed,_ it started simply, _and he who has changed it is waiting where he always has been._

Cindy read it three times. Waiting where he always has been? She walked carefully across the street onto the Neutron's property, walking over their lawn to where the shed had always stood. She raised an arm, hesitating. Hope swelled within her. She brought her knuckles to meet the door and it swung open. Cindy invited herself in.

Purple Flurp littered the table next to the cozy couch. Computers and other machines hummed and whirred and beeped. Nostalgia filled Cindy… she was home. There was a figure on the couch.

Cindy inhaled shakily, a smile breaking out on her face and tears filling her eyes. She sat down on the couch, careful not to squish the sleeping beauty.

"Good morning, sleepy head," she murmured.

His eyes fluttered open. He had never looked more tired in his life. But he had also never looked so at peace. He groaned and stretched, taking in his surroundings, then glancing up at Cindy. "Hi," he said. He paused, looking intently at her face. "Is there heaven after all?"

Cindy's smile broke out into a grin and she buried her face into his chest, sobbing. "You're… a big idiot," she sniffled dumbly, her voice muffled by his shirt.

Jimmy didn't say anything and slowly, carefully, wrapped his arms around her. He let his face fall into her hair and sighed. "I'm happy," he said simply. Cindy nodded, unable to say anything else. "So this is life after death?"

Cindy pushed away from him. "This is life _before_ death."

"Oh." He sat up and pulled Cindy with him. "Life after death is overrated." Cindy watched him reflect quietly. He seemed different… "But MAN if Einstein were still around I could put a freaking blackhole in his so called theory of relativity!"

Cindy smirked. "Welcome back, Jimmy."

………

THAT'S IT! … just kidding.

_Really truly and actually concluded in 'Epilogue: Life Before Death.' Seriously. Like, really. It'll actually be concluded. For serious. For rizzle. Dog. Alright I'm done, see yall soon._


	17. Epilogue: Life Before Death

Okay. Long time everyone. School year is finally over and I finally decided to throw this out there. About the sequel, it's looking iffy right now. I'm going to be a senior this year and I'm just not sure I'll have the time to crank the sequel out, so the only thing I can offer you guys is a 'we'll see.' So bear with me, cross your fingers, and go outside and exercise a bit instead of sitting reading silly stories about silly people on a silly website on this silly planet—

HEART YOU FFN!

—like good little boys and girls. Kapeesh? And those of you who are looking for cars, please buy fuel efficient ones, and recycle, and drinking and driving is lame guys, and CLEAN YOUR ROOM and I think it's obvious by now that you should live your lives exactly the way I want you to.

What? I was kidding.

You guys have been absolutely great! Thank you, those of you who have stayed with this, for all of your excellent support. I'm going to leave review responses off of this chapter, just because all I can really say to everyone is what I just said. _Thank you_, and I hope you enjoy this last chapter of _The Irony of It All_.

Well-Well

………

Chapter 17: Epilogue: Life Before Death

The sun was setting over the park as a cool wind blew from the north. Its crimson glow wrapped around the horizon as though protecting it from the beyond. It made Cindy feel claustrophobic. She sighed.

"What's wrong?"

The voice startled her, and she turned around. "Mr. Corbet."

He smiled a hello. "No worries. I'm just out for an evening stroll to clear my head. Similar sentiments here, I see."

Cindy nodded absently. She played with a rebellious strand of curly hair. "I feel empty, Mr. Corbet."

"Empty?"

"Well now that this is over…" She huffed. "No, not that. I wanted it to be over the moment it started. It's just… after everything I've been through… after all of that… what's the point of this?"

Mr. Corbet adjusted the hat he wore. "To be honest, I remember very little… rather, my conscience purposely tried to remember as little as possible. Things we cannot understand are best left unquestioned."

Cindy shook her head. "But that goes against everything I know. Science—the purpose of science is to answer those questions."

"Yes, and the purpose of food is to fill stomachs. But sadly many stomachs go unfilled. There are no charities in science."

"I can't just ignore it all though…!"

"Cindy," he interrupted, "I know that. So why aren't you out looking for your answers?"

"Because…" She left her sentence unfinished.

"You seek the truth, but fear it as well. You are afraid of the answers. Why do you think that is?"

"Just because I know an answer doesn't mean I understand it… at all."

"You are _lying_ to yourself."

Cindy looked up. "Huh?"

"You are a genius, much as modesty would love to deny it." She flushed. "Should you seek these answers, you would most definitely find a way to understand them. So what is it that you're really afraid of?"

Cindy shook her head. "I'm not sure I can describe it."

Corbet nodded. "Could it be that you are afraid that what you find will make everything you know meaningless? Like, what is the point if there is no life after death? Doesn't that scare you?"

"Well…"

"Regardless of what you believe, life is precious. You must live it to the fullest and learn everything you can, lest you die with regrets." He adjusted his hat again. "Remember that everything will maintain a purpose. Even if your answers are things you can barely fathom, things that shock you and bewilder you, your family and your friends, your home and your world, they will not become any less important to you. Things we don't want to know are forgotten. Things we love we never forget. I could tell you right now that our universe is made of microscopic hamburgers… and you would forget come next week. Why? Because in the end, that knowledge doesn't change anything about you. Do you see my point?"

Cindy stared through the ground, nodding slowly. "I think so."

"The answers will always be there. You don't have to go looking today. Enjoy the sunset. There will never be another one just like it." He smiled, nodded, and continued on his way.

Cindy shivered a little in the cool breeze. Corbet was right. She would have to look for those answers, whether she was prepared to accept them or not. But she wouldn't make the journey alone.

"Hey, Cin."

Her lips curved upward as she turned at the sound of her name. "Hey."

Jimmy took a seat on the bench next to her, and she let her head fall onto his shoulder. "Was that Corbet?" he asked, leaning his head forward to see around Cindy.

She nodded. "Yeah. His treatment is going well. He gave me some good advice."

"Oh?" Jimmy asked, raising a brow.

Again she bobbed her head. "You and I have a lot of questions to answer."

"I was thinking the same thing," Jimmy said, chuckling. "Great minds, right?"

Cindy smiled, remembering what Corbet had said about her being a genius. "Great minds," she agreed.

"I hope we can enjoy this for a little while, though?" Jimmy questioned slowly, turning his head so that his chin met her hair.

Cindy grinned. "Me too. Great minds?"

"Great minds," Jimmy said, laughing.

And so the sun set and the stars continued shining and the earth continued turning, and no one really knew what would appear next on the horizon. After all, no one really could know. Not even Fate.

And the winds of change had blown and would continue blowing forward, never backward, never without cause and effect. As time kept chugging onward like a waterwheel immersed in a sporadically flowing river, things moved and morphed and came and went and as they did, something new emerged as a muddled silhouette on a horizon that was only so far away…

………


End file.
